Too Much Trouble
by FullMoonDreams
Summary: Hogwarts: A High Security Prison, Dumbledore: A criminal mastermind, and more than a dozen Sirius Blacks...it can only mean trouble...especially for Remus Lupin. Slash RLSB
1. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer -** I still own nothing that you recognise.

**Notes - **This story is the fifth in my Trouble/Parallel Worlds series. Yes, I know I said the fourth one was the last one - but I this one suddenly popped into my head and demanded to be written as well. It should (I hope) pretty much stand alone, but if you want to read the previous ones they are Double Trouble, Catch A Quaffle, Triple Trouble and Trouble with a Capital T. Enjoy.

**Warnings - **Slash - am tempted to include several pairings in this one but the main one will be Remus and Sirius. There won't be anything very graphic in the story though. There will also be a bit of bad language.

Too Much Trouble

"_This is the one!" Sirius exclaimed as he threw himself backward onto the bed. Apparently, the signs warning customers not to test the merchandise weren't relevant to him. _

"_You're sure this time?" Remus asked, as he walked to the other side of the bed to check the price. _

"_Yeah, I'm sure," Sirius replied, and he reached out to pull Remus down onto the bed with him. "It's perfect."_

"_Then let's find a member of staff and pay for it," Remus suggested. "Before we get thrown out."_

Remus sat on the window seat, looking out at the night sky. He cast the occasional glance towards the bed, where the gold motifs on the deep red bedding were shining in the moonlight.

Sirius was stretched out on the bed, fast asleep. He would have appeared dead to the world, were it not for the occasional snore that practically shook the room. Remus smiled to himself as a particularly loud one resonated through the room. His smile disappeared though, when he heard the sound of a dog-like whimper coming from the bed. He turned to look at Sirius and saw that one of his arms was stretched out across the mattress, his hand reaching out blindly in the dark.

Remus hopped down from the window seat and padded across to the bed, slipping back beneath the sheets as carefully as he could.

Sirius's hand soon found what he was searching for and a contented smile appeared on his face. He pulled Remus closer and sleepily nuzzled his neck.

The bed was perfect, but Sirius could only sleep peacefully when he was sharing it with Remus.

-o-xXx-o-

_Remus stood in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts Castle. The walls were bare of pictures and the few torches in the sconces had long since burnt out. _

_He walked towards the Great Hall, listening for the sounds of students, only to hear nothing._

_It wouldn't have been so disconcerting if it had been night. Remus and his friends had wandered the school during the night on many occasions, and knew how deserted it appeared in the hours of darkness. But the bright sunlight glaring through the windows gave away the hour of the day. _

_The Great Hall was deserted and Remus turned down one of the corridors, wondering if this was what the school was like during the holidays. _

_He walked towards the nearest classroom and tried the door. The room was locked and he moved on to the next one, only to find that was locked too. _

_Remus wandered the school for some time before he made his way towards the familiar haven of Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was, as he'd expected, absent from her post at the entrance. Instead a simple painting of a gateway guarded the entrance. He tried several of the passwords that he recalled from his days at school, but none of them opened the doorway. _

_He was about to give up and make his way to the headmaster's office when he heard the first sound not made by himself since he'd arrived. _

_The scream came from below him and echoed eerily through the castle. It was a scream of terror and one that he knew immediately who had made it. "Sirius," he breathed as he took off at a run down the stairs._

_The screams came again and again, beckoning Remus downwards, until finally he was in the underground corridor that led to the Slytherin dungeons. _

_Remus reached for his wand, only to find it was missing. He stumbled down the corridor, tripping occasionally in the darkness. The further down the corridor he went, the more sounds he could hear that proved he wasn't alone in the building. Each door was locked, but Remus could hear whispers, groans and cries coming from each of them as he passed. _

_Finally, he reached the end of the corridor and the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Just like Gryffindor Tower, the common room's portrait was no longer guarding the entrance. A painting of a gateway, almost identical to the previous one, was in the place of the portrait…this one however stood open, and Remus found that he could easily swing open the painting and enter the room. _

_A single torch lit the room that Remus knew as the Slytherin common room. Most of the room was still in darkness, but Remus could see enough to make out the solitary figure curled up on the floor. _

_Black hair, longer than he remembered, fell into the man's eyes. Remus stepped forward to brush it back. He'd found what he was looking for…he'd found Sirius._

_His hand reached for Sirius' s own, but it seemed that the man lying on the floor didn't want his touch. He recoiled in horror._

"_It's okay, Sirius," Remus whispered. "It's me, Remus. I've come to get you."_

"_Remus?" Sirius whimpered. _

"_That's right," Remus replied. _

"_Remus." Sirius whispered his name, practically hissing the 's', before finally turning to face him. Remus's smile froze on his face as Sirius let out another scream of horror at seeing him there. _

-o-xXx-o-

Remus woke to the familiar sensation of soft lips pressed against his own. He opened his eyes and looked into the grey ones twinkling down at him.

"Morning," Sirius greeted him with a grin and another kiss. "Sleep well?"

"Hmm," Remus replied, deliberately looking away as he mumbled the lie.

Sirius gripped his chin tenderly and turned his face back to him. "The nightmare came back again?" he asked.

Remus nodded mutely.

"You worry too much," Sirius scolded. "None of the Marauders are evil on this world, least of all you."

"But-"

"Remus, stop it! If you were evil, you'd hardly be spending so much time worrying about it, would you?"

Remus gave a small shrug.

"I'm not a Death Eater, Peter's not a Death Eater, James and Lily aren't Death Eaters and you aren't one either."

"I know that," Remus sighed. "But, it doesn't stop the nightmare coming back again and again."

"I could never scream in horror at seeing you," Sirius told him. "No matter what happens, you're my Moony, and I love you."

Remus smiled up at Sirius and wound his arms around the other man's waist. "What would I do without you?" he asked.

"You'd suffer dreadfully, from boredom during the day and sexual frustration at night," Sirius answered with a grin.

Remus laughed and flipped Sirius onto his back. "I'll give you sexual frustration," he teased.

"I've got work today," Sirius pointed out with obvious regret.

"Call in sick," Remus suggested with a wicked grin.

"I've already missed two days this month. And it's only the twelfth."

Remus ignored him as he trailed kisses down his chest, his hand already wandering towards the increasing bulge in Sirius's boxers.

"I'll need to think of some more original illnesses," Sirius commented as he shivered under Remus's ministrations. Then he felt Remus's hand gripping him and forgot about work entirely.

-o-xXx-o-

Despite Remus's best efforts to persuade him otherwise, Sirius decided that perhaps skipping the entire day might be pushing things too far. He downed a particularly revolting potion to induce cold-like symptoms and headed out to work.

He parked his motorbike in the muggle parking lot a few minutes walk from Diagon Alley and strolled out into the afternoon sun. He didn't see the wizard following close behind him, and he didn't hear any whispered incantation. One moment he was walking down the street, the next there was nothing but pain and blackness.

-o-xXx-o-

When Sirius first returned to consciousness he wasn't entirely sure that he had. Only the pain in his lower back, where the stunning spell had hit him, gave away the fact that he was awake.

"I see you're awake," a familiar voice commented from behind him.

Sirius tried to turn to face the speaker, but the full body bind he was in prevented him from moving.

He heard footsteps approaching him and then long purple robes came into view. "As you can see, he's your exact double," Dumbledore said, turning to face someone out of Sirius's view.

"Remarkable."

Sirius felt his heart rate increase as he recognised his own voice.

"He works for the Quidditch League Organisation, based in Diagon Alley," Dumbledore announced in a business-like manner, almost as though he was merely introducing the two of them over dinner. "He lives in a flat on the outskirts of London, chosen for its suitability for the werewolf who shares it with him."

"Werewolf?"

"Remus Lupin," Dumbledore explained. "He was in your year at school, Gryffindor student…"

"Ah, yes. I remember him now. Sickly looking kid."

"That's the one. You'll have to convince him that you are his friend with minimal information. Do you think you can do it?"

"Not like I've got much choice," Sirius snapped. "The Dark Lord was defeated three months ago in my world, I don't intend joining him in Azkaban. If I take this one's place, I'll be home free."

"You'll also be my right hand man, when the time comes," Dumbledore stated.

"On this world?"

"I don't know yet," Dumbledore admitted. "I've been setting various plans into motion on numerous worlds…which world I retire to will depend on how well those plans come to fruition."

"Is this your original world?"

"Goodness, no!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "My foolish double on this world was the one who opened the portal to my world, and inadvertently released me from my prison. I left him languishing in my cell, stole his wand and took over his life with very little trouble."

"I hope I can take over this one's life as easily," Sirius sneered, stepping into the eye line of the still bound Sirius for the first time.

"It should be easy enough," Dumbledore replied. "The only thing you need to be aware of is that your double and his friends have done some portal travelling of their own, including a brief visit to a possible future. They _know things_."

Sirius shrugged easily. "Not a problem. They won't have a clue we've switched."

"Then let's send your double somewhere he can't cause any mischief," Dumbledore said with barely concealed eagerness.

Sirius felt the body bind spell vanish and he flexed his limbs slightly before struggling to his feet. "You won't be able to fool Moony for more than a minute," he sneered.

"Moony, is it?" the other Sirius smirked, and Sirius swore under his breath that within a matter of seconds he'd given his duplicate information that would help him.

He glared at the two men facing him and reached for his wand, not surprised in the least to find that it had gone.

-o-xXx-o-

It didn't escape Sirius's notice that he was being taken to the dungeons and the Slytherin quarters of the school…the same place that haunted Remus's nightmares. Night had long since fallen, and he knew that Remus was no doubt already worried at his absence.

Sirius could see no way out of his predicament, but where he might fail, Padfoot would sometimes succeed.

He waited until they were in the Entrance Hall before transforming into his animagus form and bolting for the door. He made it part way to the school gates before another stunning spell hit him and he passed out for the second time that day.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus looked at the clock for the fourth time in as many minutes. It wasn't like Sirius to be late home, in fact he usually crept out of work early. Remus hoped he wasn't in trouble for failing to go in that morning, and that he was merely putting in a few extra hours to make up for his absence.

It was nearly midnight when he heard the door quietly opening.

"Through here," he called out, sensing that Sirius was being quiet in order to avoid waking him.

"You didn't have to wait up for me," Sirius scolded.

"I was worried," Remus admitted. "You didn't get in trouble for skiving off this morning, did you?"

"Nah, nothing the old Black charm can't handle."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. "So, want to pick up where we left off this morning?" he asked seductively.

Sirius looked back at him blankly for a moment before realisation dawned. "Actually, I'm feeling kind of tired, long day you know?"

Remus tried to quell the disappointment he felt at the rejection. Sirius never turned down the offer of sex. He wondered if perhaps Sirius had got into more trouble at work than he was letting on, and he merely nodded his response. He watched as Sirius made his way towards the kitchen, emerging a moment later with a glass of water, before heading to the bedroom.

Remus sat up a little longer before finally making his way to the bedroom. Sirius was stretched out in his usual place on the bed, snoring away, and perfectly content. Remus smiled as he undressed and climbed into the bed. Sirius must have been exhausted to have dropped off to sleep so suddenly and deeply. He inched his way closer to the other man and made to snuggle up beside him. He told himself that Sirius was still asleep, and had no idea what he was doing, as he turned over, away from Remus and his touch.

-o-xXx-o-

When Sirius came to he found himself in a damp and cold room, and facing his double once more.

"You bastard!" he yelled as he scrambled towards the other Sirius and tackled him to the ground.

"Ge' off," the other Sirius choked out as Sirius grabbed him round the throat. He felt hands pulling him back and struggled to release himself from their grip.

"Calm down, mate," a voice said to his left and he turned to goggle at another Sirius double.

"Yeah," a third Sirius said from his other side. "We've all been there, taken from our own worlds and shoved in here whilst our doubles wreak havoc with our lives."

Sirius looked around the room and saw one Sirius after another step forward into the light. "How many are there?" he asked.

"You're number twelve," the Sirius to his right said. "Welcome to Hogwart's Prison."

-o-xXx-o-

A/N: I am not going to promise rapid updates on this one, though I will try to squeeze out at least one per month in between updating my other stories.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here is the next part of the story. I hope you are enjoying it.

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Chapter 2

"_Padfoot! Wake up!"_

_Remus woke up to the sound of James Potter hissing through the drapes surrounding his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. He turned to look over his shoulder, and wasn't surprised to see that Sirius was still sound asleep. _

"_Padfoot!" James whispered again._

"_He's asleep," Remus replied in his normal voice. He knew that nothing short of an explosion would wake up Sirius right now, though he didn't voice that thought out loud – it never paid to give James ideas of that nature. _

_James poked his head through the curtains, looking like he was trying to look anywhere but at the two boys lying entwined in the sheets. "Moony, wake him up would you?"_

"_What's so important it can't wait until morning?" Remus asked instead. _

"_The last of the ingredients arrived this afternoon. We need to get down to the Potions lab tonight or it'll be too late. You have to take it in the week up to the full moon."_

_At that Remus sprang out of bed and grabbed his robes. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"_

"_Couldn't find you. Then I had detention again, didn't I?"_

"_Oh." Remus slipped into his shoes and made his way towards his trunk._

"_Got it right here," Peter announced before Remus could begin his search for the Marauders' Map. _

"_Padfoot!" James called, much louder this time._

"_Keep your voice down," Remus begged. "You know what happened last time you yelled too loud in here at night. The stressed out seventh years heard you and went to McGonagall."_

"_He won't wake up," James muttered, leaning across the bed to poke Sirius in the ribs. _

_Remus watched as Sirius's arm flew up to grab at the boy who'd dared to disturb his sleep. "Moony," he moaned slightly, tugging James down onto the bed. James let out a very unmanly squeak as he stumbled and fell onto the bed, the sleepy Sirius pulling him into his arms and curled around him. "Moony," he murmured again as he snuggled closer. _

_James wriggled around on the bed, trying to pull himself free from Sirius's iron grasp. "Don't just stand there grinning you gits," he ordered._

"_Shall we help him?" Peter asked with a smirk. "They do look quite cosy."_

"_Padfoot, wake up!" James pleaded. _

_Remus grinned back at Peter as he approached the bed. "You're going about this all wrong, Prongs."_

_Remus climbed onto the bed on the opposite side of Sirius to where James was trapped. "Sirius," he breathed into the other boy's ear. _

"_Hmm?" Sirius mumbled, turning away towards James. "I'm too tired to get it up again just yet. Just want to cuddle."_

_James squeaked again and he looked at Remus in horror. Remus couldn't help grinning at the sight of Sirius's wandering hands as he pulled James towards him again._

"_You're restless tonight, Moony," Sirius mumbled, snuggling nearer to James, blindly pulling him closer for a kiss. _

_Remus watched in amusement as a wide-eyed James struggled in Sirius's arms. Their lips were locked together for only a few seconds when Sirius let out a squeal of pain. _

"_Remus, what the hell?" Sirius looked at the boy who had bitten his lip hard enough to draw blood and he finally woke up completely. _

"_Over here," Remus chuckled, tapping Sirius on the shoulder. _

"_You _bit_ me," Sirius accused James. _

"_You _kissed_ me," James shot back. "Not to mention putting your hands where no bloke's hands were ever meant to go."_

"_You shouldn't have been in my bed," Sirius countered._

"_Technically, it's Moony's bed."_

"_Moony doesn't complain about where I put my hands."_

_Peter thankfully chose this moment to remind the rest of the boys about the reason they were all awake. "The Wolfsbane potion won't make itself you know."_

"_The last of the ingredients came?" Sirius asked as he climbed out of bed. _

"_This afternoon," James confirmed. "Now, come on. We didn't sneak the recipe for potion back from the other world just to read it."_

"'_Course not," Sirius agreed, swinging an arm around Remus's shoulders. "We brought it back for Moony."_

_"Thanks again for doing this for me," Remus whispered as they crept out of the dormitory. _

"_It's the least we can do," Sirius replied. "Especially considering how rubbish you are at Potions. I'll make this for you every month. Promise."_

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius looked around the other prisoners, noting both similarities and differences in the appearances of the other Sirius Blacks. One had shorter hair than the rest, while another had a scar running down the side of his face. Sirius wondered how he'd got it, but not enough to ask.

"How come you've not escaped?" he asked casually. "Eleven wizards should have been able to think of something."

"Nine wizards," corrected one of the Siriuses who hadn't spoken before. This one was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt as he lounged on one of the threadbare sofas. "I'm a muggle, as you call us, and he's a squib." He pointed towards where another Sirius was standing near the fireplace.

"Well, there's ten of us now, and I don't intend to wait around here for number thirteen to show up."

"Great, another one of _those_," commented muggle-Sirius. "You think any of us would still be here, if there was a way out?"

"There's always a way out," Sirius snapped. "This isn't the first time I've been to another world, in the last one the Sirius Black in that world had escaped from Azkaban…if he can do that, we can do this."

"Azkaban? Really?" another Sirius asked.

"Yeah, really." Sirius stalked to the fireplace and poked his head under it. He was disappointed to notice that it was thoroughly blocked.

"You can't get out that way," a tired sounding Sirius muttered.

"Then we'll find another way," Sirius barked. "Are we Gryffindors or are we Gryffindors?"

"Slytherin actually."

"I'm not, I was in Hufflepuff."

"Ravenclaw for me."

"Me too."

"I was in Gryffindor."

"I'm another Slytherin."

"Me too."

"Hold it, hold it!" Sirius yelled. "How many Gryffindors do we actually have here?"

Three hands were raised into the air and Sirius gave the owners a cursory glance. Two looked very similar to himself, though one was still in his Hogwart's uniform, betraying the fact that he was younger than the rest. The third looked, quite bluntly, sick as a dog. Sirius turned to the third one. "You all right, mate?"

Sick-Sirius shrugged. "Just a bit under the weather."

"He's been saying that for days," Hufflepuff-Sirius said. "And he's been getting worse the last few days."

"How long has he been here?" Sirius asked.

"Three weeks."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully and wished there was a window in the room, so that he could see the night sky. "Something you want to tell us?" he asked casually. "Because if there is, I'd rather know now, than say a minute after moonrise in a weeks time."

"How'd you know?"

"I live with one," Sirius replied with a casual shrug. "I recognise the signs."

"Live with what?" muggle-Sirius asked.

"A werewolf."

"W-werewolf?" muggle-Sirius stammered. "There's no such thing. Right?"

"Sorry," werewolf-Sirius apologised. "I wish there wasn't too."

"What the hell are we going to do?" one of the Ravenclaws asked. "He'll kill us all."

"You sure you were in Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked scornfully. "We'll manage. Are the dorms accessible?"

"Yeah, but they're a bit of a mess."

"Can they be barricaded shut?"

"Probably."

"Then go sort that out," Sirius ordered.

"Who put you in charge?" the first of the Slytherins asked.

"You got any better ideas?"

"No!"

"Then shut the hell up. How many of you have an animagus form?"

One solitary Gryffindor raised his hand.

"For Remus, right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah."

"Dog?"

"Yeah."

"Between the two of us, we should manage to keep him from biting us all."

"Pity the rest of my mates aren't here," werewolf-Sirius commented sadly. "They know how to keep me under control."

"So do we," Sirius told him. "How long until full moon?"

"Five or six days, I think. It's had to tell. I was expecting it a week ago, but it never came."

"Different worlds, different moon cycle," Sirius replied. "Be thankful your body has had time to get ready for the full moon. It'd be a lot worse if you hadn't…believe me."

-o-xXx-o-

Remus woke up to an empty bed, and the coolness of the sheets told him that Sirius had been gone for quite a while. It was still quite dark outside, only the briefest trace of red on the horizon told him of the coming dawn.

"Sirius?" he called. "Put the kettle on, will you?"

No sound came from the kitchen and Remus finally crawled out of bed himself. He tugged on his robe and picked up his wand from the bedside table. "Sirius?" he called again, goosebumps breaking out on his skin as he made his way through to the living area of their flat.

The reason for the lack of a reply became apparent as soon as he stepped into the room. Sirius was fast asleep on the sofa, tangled in the spare bedding from the airing cupboard.

He stepped closer to the sofa and sat down on the edge. His movements were careful, but not careful enough, and Sirius opened his eyes and yawned.

"You didn't have to sleep through here," Remus said with a smile as he put down his wand on the table.

"Was just a bit restless," Sirius muttered, swinging his legs down to the floor, and away from Remus. "Didn't want to disturb you."

"Are you all right?" Remus asked cautiously. "You sure you didn't get in trouble at work yesterday?"

"I said I didn't," Sirius snapped.

"Sorry, but you've been acting odd ever since you came home yesterday."

"Odd?" Sirius asked with a frown. "Odd how?"

"Well, for one thing, you've not touched me once." Remus ducked his head as he waited for Sirius's response, trying not to sound too petulant.

"Sorry Moony," Sirius said, as he moved closer and slowly took hold of one his hands. "I was just tired last night."

"Are you tired now?" Remus asked as he rubbed his thumb over Sirius's hand.

"Um."

"I'll take that as a no," Remus laughed as he twisted around and straddled Sirius with the ease that came from practice. "So, how would you like to spend your day off?" he whispered into his ear, nipping the lobe lightly before planting kisses on his neck.

"That feels nice," Sirius rasped.

"You sound surprised?" Remus chuckled. "You think I don't know by now just what you like, and just how you like it?" He shifted his position slightly to emphasise his point. He was about to lean in to capture Sirius's lips in a kiss when the other man pushed him away and scrambled to his feet.

"S-sorry, Moony," Sirius stammered. "Got to go into work after all. Lost my day off. The boss says I've not been pulling my weight and there's been some snitch tampering in Yorkshire and…"

Remus held up his hands to stem the flow of Sirius's rambling apology and explanations. "It's okay. You go in to work. I've got some stuff to sort out anyway. I'll be here when you get back."

"You will?" Sirius asked as he headed for the bathroom.

"Well, yeah," Remus chuckled. "Where else would I be?"

"Oh, right." Sirius nodded and disappeared out of sight. Remus watched him go with a frown on his face. He wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling that something wasn't right had been lingering since Sirius had returned from work the previous day…and it was growing stronger.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus finished his lunch a few hours later and grimaced as he glared at the door to the poky Potions lab that Sirius had set up in their flat. He shouldn't put it off any longer, not if he wanted to keep his mind during the full moon next week.

Gritting his teeth and rising to his feet, Remus slowly made his way to the laboratory.

He lit the lamps and looked at the workbench with a frown. The cauldron was empty and as clean as it had been after Sirius had washed away the remnants of the last potion he'd brewed. There was no sign of the potion that he needed to take before the sun set for the day.

Remus thoroughly disliked the taste of the Wolfsbane potion, but he had never missed a single dose. Ever since the first night that they had slipped from Gryffindor Tower and into the Potions lab, Sirius had brewed him the Wolfsbane. He hadn't missed a single month, not even during the holidays. Remus had sometimes wondered how he had found the time to make it, but when he'd asked Sirius had merely smiled and distracted him with kisses.

"Guess I'm going to have to make it myself this month," Remus muttered as he started to rifle through the papers on the desk, searching and finally finding the recipe. If only he felt more confident about his potion making abilities.

Two exploded cauldrons later and Remus remembered exactly why he hated Potions. But he pulled a third cauldron from the cupboard rather than dwell on Sirius's broken promise.

* * *

A/N: Regarding flashbacks. I am thinking of starting each chapter with a flashback if no one minds. If you hate flashbacks (and I know they aren't always popular) now is a good time to speak out. If people do hate them I will keep them to a minimum.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, I seem to be on a roll with this story this week so a rapid update for part three. Can't promise the same for part four though, too many fics and too little time and I really have to update The Muggle Way soon.

* * *

Chapter 3

"_You took your time," Sirius accused him the moment he entered the Room of Requirement._

"_I had to take a detour to avoid Filch," Remus replied, closing the door behind him and locking it._

"_Why? It's not after curfew."_

"_Because he'd probably want to search this parcel for pranking materials," explained Remus, setting set box down on the bed as he spoke. _

_Sirius nodded and swept a hand around the room in a grand gesture. "So, what do you think?"_

_Remus looked around at the large and comfortable bedchamber that the room had provided them with. "What's through there?" he asked, pointing to a door. _

"_Bathroom," Sirius replied. "We've got it all covered. Now, are you going to let me see what you ordered from that shop?"_

_Remus nodded and opened the box. Sirius threw himself onto the bed and leaned forward eagerly. One look into the box however, saw his face falling dramatically. "Books?"_

"_Not just books." Remus pulled out a couple of jars and tossed one to Sirius. He opened it and cautiously sniffed the contents. _

"_You disappointment me, Moony," sighed Sirius as he replaced the lid and looked back into the box, perhaps hoping that the contents might have changed. "That order form had _everything_ on it. All sorts of toys and costumes and stuff I'd never even heard of. And you buy some lube and a load of books."_

"_And these," Remus added, pulling out a packet of condoms. _

"_I've got plenty of those anyway," Sirius muttered. "Books! You disappoint me Moony."_

"_It's not like they're school books," Remus replied impatiently. "Here, take a look. You might be surprised."_

_Sirius reached out and grabbed the one from the top of the pile. "Contraceptive Charms for Responsible Wizards," he read. "You worried I'm going to knock you up?"_

"_Prat!" _

_Sirius reached for a second book. "Pleasurable Potions." He scowled slightly and tossed it aside._

"_Try this one," Remus suggested, passing him a copy of Charming Your Way to a Successful Sex Life. _

"_You don't think I'm charming enough?" Sirius teased, but opened the book anyway. "Bloody hell!" he swore. "No way! I've changed my mind about this. I want to be on top instead, because that looks bleeding painful."_

_Remus laughed and scooted across the bed and looked at the page. The two wizards pictured where demonstrating a particularly uncomfortable looking move and from the point of view of the reader seemed to be in difficulty themselves. "That's the 'before' picture," he explained, turning the page to show the 'after' picture of the two wizards after the charm to make one of the couple double-jointed had been cast. "Still want to be on top?" he asked wickedly._

_Sirius shook his head slightly, his mouth hanging open. "I want you to do that to me," he whispered._

-o-xXx-o-

Cold showers were the answer, Remus told himself as he stood beneath the icy water. It had been five days since Sirius had touched him, even in a purely platonic way. Remus was starting to suspect that Sirius was avoiding him, though he couldn't even begin to guess why.

Sirius was leaving for work early in the mornings, arriving home late at night, sometimes smelling strongly of alcohol, and had spent barely two minutes together in Remus's company.

The full moon was the following night and Remus wondered if he could expect Padfoot's company at all. With Peter's help he had finally produced the Wolfsbane potion and had no worries about that at least. But he knew that the wolf missed Padfoot just as much as he was missing Sirius, and had a sneaking suspicion that he'd be spending the night alone.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius was getting highly irritated with his doubles, especially those from Slytherin house. It seemed to him that they were arguing the toss with him on every single suggestion he made. It didn't matter what he said, one of Slytherins took it upon himself to refuse to co-operate.

The latest argument revolved around whether to lock the werewolf in one of the dormitories or whether to give him free range around the rest of the quarters and for everyone else to be barricaded in the dorms.

Sirius knew that it would be easier on them all if the wolf had room to move about and to play with the two dogs. Unfortunately, the Slytherins weren't prepared to listen to that argument and insisted that keeping the wolf confined to as small a room as possible was the way to go.

"The first year dorm is perfectly adequate."

"The wolf needs room to run about," Sirius argued. "The common room's the largest area. If he has room to move about and play he won't try to get to you."

"The doors aren't exactly in great shape if you're wrong about that."

"Then use what used to be the girls' dorms," Sirius snapped. "You should be able to get up the slide but the wolf won't. His claws won't be able to get a grip on it."

"We don't even know if it turns into a slide or not. Just because it does in our world doesn't mean it does in this one. This is a prison, not a school."

"Then go and bloody test it!" Sirius yelled. He pointed at the staircase in question and gave a grunt of satisfaction as Hufflepuff-Sirius put a foot on the stairs, triggering the mechanism that turned it into a slide.

"Guess the place used to be a school after all," Sirius commented.

"It did," muggle-Sirius interrupted. "When I came here I'd never heard of Hogwarts and they told me it used to be a school until the Headmaster went nuts and they turned it into his prison instead."

"And now it's ours," Sirius replied.

-o-xXx-o-

The following day Remus wandered idly down Diagon Alley, his nose buried in the Daily Prophet's classified section. He wasn't seeing the adverts though, instead his mind was entirely on Sirius and before he knew it he'd walked through the door to the office where Sirius worked.

"Afternoon Amy," he greeted the perky blonde receptionist. "Is Sirius about?"

"Sirius?" Amy echoed in surprise. "He's not been in all week. We've not heard from him since the day he flooed in sick. Max is real mad about it, said if he hasn't put in an appearance by the end of the week he'll fire him. He's already docking his wages for the missed days."

"Wait a minute," Remus interrupted. "You're telling me that Sirius hasn't been in to work in nearly a week?"

"That's right."

"But he's been leaving for work and coming back late every night…"

"And that doesn't tell you he's up to something dodgy?" Amy scoffed. "Sirius used to slip out of work early every chance he could."

"He said he was getting in trouble for slacking off," Remus replied defensively.

"Well, he certainly is now."

"Don't suppose you have any idea where he is?"

"You could try the Leaky Cauldron."

"I came into the Alley that way," Remus replied with a shake of his head.

"There's always the Cross-Eyed Dragon down Knockturn."

Remus frowned at the idea of Sirius spending his day in a pub so dingy it made the Hogs Head seem classy. "Thanks," he said as he turned to leave.

Remus made his way towards Knockturn Alley, wondering what had happened to cause Sirius to ditch both work and himself for the best part of a week.

-o-xXx-o-

"It's starting."

Sirius turned to his werewolf double and nodded calmly. "Don't worry," he said. "They're all safely out of the way upstairs. Just the two of us to keep you from dying of boredom."

The other Sirius with the ability to turn into a dog had already changed form, and Sirius followed his example a moment later.

"So strange," werewolf-Sirius chuckled. "I always wondered what my animagus form would be."

Sirius wondered if Remus had ever wondered the same thing, and he made a mental note to ask him once he was back home.

All too soon the moon had risen and the sound of howling echoed through the dungeons. Occasionally the sounds of two barking dogs joined the howls, as the two animaguses played with the wolf and kept him from harming himself.

-o-xXx-o-

The Cross-Eyed Dragon was practically empty when Remus pushed his way through the door. The only customers were two middle-aged witches, cackling away in one of the dimly lit corners.

"You lost?" the barman asked as Remus approached the bar.

"Looking for someone," Remus replied.

"Gonna cost yer." The barman smirked and gestured towards the dusty bottles behind him.

"I'll have a butterbeer," Remus asked, digging into his robes for the money.

"Butterbeer!" The barman laughed loudly and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "We don't serve butterbeer in 'ere."

"Firewhiskey then," Remus amended.

"That'll be ten galleons."

"What?" Remus spluttered. "You can't charge that for a single firewhiskey."

"You're the one wanting information. That means I can charge what I want. Ten galleons."

"I don't have ten galleons," Remus argued.

"Then I don't know anything."

"I'm just looking for my…er…"

"I don't care. No money, no information. Yer got that?"

Remus narrowed his gaze and glared at the barman. The full moon was that night and he really didn't have time to be chasing Sirius all around London. He just wanted to talk to him, to make sure that things were still okay between them. He didn't want to be here in the dive to end all dives, arguing with a barman about the price of information. "Maybe you don't understand me," Remus suggested as he leaned across the bar. The growl came easily with the full moon so close. He didn't know if his eyes changed into those of the wolf, or whether it was merely the age-old case of a bully not liking the tables being turned. Whatever it was, the barman blanched as Remus leaned towards him. "Sirius Black, you know him?"

"Everyone knows the Black family."

"You seen him recently?"

"Not been in today."

"When has he been in?"

"Two days ago."

"If he comes back today, tell him Remus is looking for him." Remus stepped back and saw the fear vanish from the barman's eyes. It was instantly replaced with a look of annoyance, though who it was aimed at he didn't know.

"I aint no bleeding messenger boy."

"You're a barman who has no idea who he's dealing with," Remus hissed.

"Yer think yer the first werewolf to come in 'ere?" the barman asked. "Far from it. Now get out. Yer barred."

"I don't know how I'll bear the deprivation," Remus muttered sarcastically as he stalked out the door and into the marginally fresher air of Knockturn Alley.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius bounded around the common room, leaping over furniture as he chased the werewolf round the room.

Dimly, he was aware that the wolf was acting differently to how Remus did on the nights of the full moon. Remus never swatted him with his paws, preferring to nuzzle him with his snout as they interacted. Sirius recalled that it had always been like that and wondered how it had taken so long for him to realise what it was they felt for each other.

Since they'd discovered the world with the Wolfsbane potion, the full moons had taken on a new aspect, with Remus being more like an animagus than a werewolf. Only the pain of the transformations marked the difference.

He wondered how Remus was handling the full moon that night, and thought about the coincidence that had caused the two worlds to experience a full moon on the same night. He hoped that Peter or James had prepared the Wolfsbane for Remus. He had no doubt that the impostor who had taken his place wouldn't have given it a second thought, even if he knew about the potion.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus drank his last goblet of Wolfsbane an hour before sunset. He'd checked every pub he could think of but had found no trace of Sirius. He knew he would make it through the full moon without him, the Wolfsbane made sure of that, but he was desperate to know where Sirius had disappeared to. The lingering worry that something was badly wrong had increased throughout the day and he would be glad when the full moon had passed.

It was nearly one o'clock when Sirius finally arrived home. Remus was curled up on the sofa, heedless of the fur he'd be shedding on the fabric. He'd meant to stay awake, but must have drifted off at some point because the sound of drunken laughter woke him up.

"My friends will be wondering where I've disappeared to." The female voice was high and breathy and the words were punctuated with a loud hiccup.

"We can always go back and get them," Sirius suggested. "If you feel up to sharing the goods."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

Remus's ears had perked up and he looked over the back of the sofa towards the door. Sirius was wrapped around the redhead and steering her expertly towards the bedroom. He growled loudly, causing the woman to jump and look in his direction.

"I didn't know you had a dog," she commented.

"My roommate's," Sirius replied with a smirk at Remus. "He'll just curl up on the sofa for the night, no trouble at all."

"He looks kind of big."

"He's part wolf," Sirius explained.

"Does he bite?" The redhead sounded nervous and Remus watched as she edged further backwards, unknowingly towards the bedroom.

"He won't hurt you," Sirius promised. "Now, how about we move things through to the bedroom?"

The redhead looked a little unsure but let herself be guided towards the open door.

"We'll lock the door," Sirius assured her. "He won't trouble us."

_I wouldn't be so sure about that_, Remus thought to himself, resolving to wait things out until morning. It wouldn't do to get into a fight whilst he was in his werewolf form – there was no telling what his temper would result in.

-o-xXx-o-

"Is it safe?"

Sirius looked towards the staircase and contemplated ignoring the sounds of the other Siriuses emerging.

"Yeah," werewolf-Sirius called out in a weak voice. "You can come down now. The monster's gone for the month."

"You're not a monster," Sirius commented automatically.

"That's what Remus tells me."

"You should listen to him. Remus usually knows what he's talking about."

"Usually?"

"In my world he's a werewolf and sees himself as a monster," Sirius admitted quietly. "Though I'm trying to convince him otherwise."

"You're not helping your argument."

"Maybe not, but I'm still right. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you and Remus…you know…together?"

"Together?" werewolf-Sirius asked in confusion. "We're mates, best mates, along with James and Peter. We're all in Gryffindor together. Or we were until last year."

"I meant are you a couple?"

"A couple?" one of the Slytherin Siriuses asked with a sneer. "What are you? Some sort of shirtlifter?"

"Yeah, aren't you?" Sirius sneered back. He looked around the room and saw one head after another shaking in reply to his question. There was only one double in the room nodding, and that was one of the Slytherins.

"I'm not with this Remus," the Sirius who had given the positive response added. "Don't really know him, different house and all that."

"Different worlds," Sirius sighed. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm shattered." He turned to werewolf-Sirius. "Think you can make the stairs?"

"Yeah. Thanks for helping out last night."

"Pleasure was all mine," Sirius replied as he walked towards the staircase. "I just hope Remus made it through the night okay without me."

"You said he had that miracle potion, surely that helped?"

"Yeah, I just can't help worrying about him."

-o-xXx-o-

Remus tugged on his jeans and made his way towards the bedroom. His wand was in his hand as he pushed open the door.

"Moony," Sirius greeted him from the bed.

Remus took in the scene with the eyes of a man who'd done nothing but think the previous night. He raised his wand and pointed it at Sirius.

"I know just what you like, and just how you like it," Remus stated coldly. "I know every sound of pleasure you make, every moan, every cry. The wolf has amazingly good hearing and yet I didn't hear one of those sounds last night."

"Just because I wasn't as noisy as I usually am…" Sirius interrupted. "It's a bit different when you're with a girl, not that you'd know anything about that."

"Shut up!" Remus snapped impatiently. "I don't know how you got here, or what you've done with Sirius, but you're going to tell me right now."

"What are you talking about? I'm Sirius."

"No, you're not. At least you're not the one from this world."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked calmly.

"I'm right here."

"Where's _my_ Sirius?" Remus clarified. "And don't even pretend you don't know what I'm talking about or I'll AK you in a heartbeat."

"No, you won't."

"Try me."

"You don't have it in you to kill me."

"Where is he?" Remus growled.

Sirius looked back at him and scowled, clearly knowing that the game was up. "Somewhere you'll never find him. You'll have to get used to this Sirius instead. Though I think we should set down a few ground rules. First of all, I don't want you touching me ever again. It might be best if you move out, I'll give you until the end of the week, but then I want you gone."

Remus listened as Sirius laid out the ground rules and tried not to appear amused at the idea of him obediently following them. "Have you finished?" he asked.

"I think that's about it, yeah," Sirius replied. "Now be a good little wolfie and go make me and the chick some breakfast."

Remus ignored the request and instead silently cast a full body bind on the impostor in his bed. Then he returned to the main room of the flat and grabbed the floo powder. Dumbledore would know what to do, he decided as he threw the powder into the flames. Dumbledore always knew what to do.

* * *

A/N: Since the majority seem to like the flashbacks I decided to go along with that. I hope they don't get in the way of the story.

Secondly, I guess there is at least one person out there cursing that I have once again neglected to include an actual sex scene. Sorry, but even though everyone else breaks the site rules on this one, I don't intend to do so. I may (depending on if anyone is interested) do the same with this story as I am doing with Once in a Blue Moon (i.e. post an edited version here and a more adult one elsewhere). If you are interested in reading a more graphic version of this story, are over 18, and it is legal to read that stuff where you live - oh and don't mind that I am probably rather rubbish at writing smut - drop me a line and I will see what I can do and send you the link to the adult site I use.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Remus was curled up asleep in bed when the sun rose on his last morning at Hogwarts. Sirius on the other hand had risen early to begin their final day. Their trunks were packed, their posters and pictures taken down from the walls and they had nothing pressing to do except enjoy the final few hours at school._

"_Remus?" _

"_Hmm?"_

"_Don't you want your breakfast?" _

_Remus opened his eyes reluctantly until he saw the tray containing all of his favourite foods waiting for him on the bedside table. "You got all of this ready for me?"_

"_Yep!"_

_Remus sat up and reached for the glass of pumpkin juice. "Not that this isn't a lovely surprise, but I thought we were all going to eat breakfast in the Great Hall today?"_

"_I changed my mind. I thought I'd start as I mean to go on with the rest of our lives."_

_Remus raised a questioning eyebrow as he sipped the juice._

"_I'm going to be taking care of you," Sirius explained. "We're going to be moving in together and since you're as crap at cooking as you are at Potions…hey." Sirius rubbed his arm dramatically where Remus had smacked him. "Some thanks, Moony."_

"_Thank you, Padfoot," Remus said sincerely. He sat up and kissed Sirius softly. "I don't expect breakfast in bed every day you know?"_

"_Every other day?"_

_Remus chuckled. "We'll take it in turns to fuss over each other. Equals."_

"_Deal," Sirius replied as he settled down on the bed and pulled Remus into his arms. "What would I do without you?"_

"_More to the point, where would I be without you?" Remus replied. _

-o-xXx-o-

Dumbledore slowly paced the small living room as Remus explained the situation to his former headmaster.

"You're sure about this?" he asked. "Maybe Sirius is just rebelling. He has been known to do so on occasion."

"That's not Sirius in there," stated Remus with a nod towards the bedroom. "He's an impostor."

"How can you be so positive?"

"Because the Sirius I know wouldn't bring some girl back here on the night of the full moon."

"He knows you're safe though, thanks to the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Which he didn't bother to make for me this month," Remus pointed out.

"You really shouldn't rely so much on Sirius making you the potion," Dumbledore chided gently.

"You're missing the point," Remus sighed. "He isn't Sirius."

"Perhaps we should all go back to my office and discuss this?" Dumbledore suggested. "Neutral ground so to speak?"

Remus nodded reluctantly as Dumbledore went through to the bedroom and looked at the still bound Sirius. The woman had gone on her way, but Sirius was just how Remus had left him. Remus undid the spell with a wave of his wand, but he made sure to keep the wand in his hand as Sirius got up from the bed and glared at him.

"I suppose he's told you all about my being an impostor?" Sirius sneered. "He's lost his mind, the full moon has sent him over the edge."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius for several moments before he spoke again. "Sirius, think about what you're saying. This is one of your best friends, and he went through hell last night. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion the transformation would have been as painful as ever."

"I've changed my mind," Sirius suddenly declared, folding his arms stubbornly. "No matter what you're offering its not enough for me to put up with being groped and pawed by some gay werewolf."

Remus frowned and turned to Dumbledore who looked absolutely livid.

"All you had to do was bide your time," he snapped.

Remus was too stunned to take in what they were saying. Dumbledore knew that Sirius was an impostor? A moment later he realised the truth and turned his wand on the second impostor.

"I see we're going to have to change our plans slightly," Dumbledore commented calmly. "I've been in touch with another Remus, several in fact. But the one I have in mind is suitable not only because he shares our visions, but also because he has severed ties completely with his friends. Which means this Remus won't be able to enlist their help when he takes his place."

Sirius smiled coldly and reached for his wand. Remus sent a stunning spell at him which knocked him off his feet, but although he could disarm one of the men, he couldn't take them both down and he hadn't yet turned to Dumbledore when he felt the spell hit him and nothing but darkness remained.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius had been cooped up in Hogwarts Prison for long enough. At least that's what he told himself as he searched once more for a way out of the Slytherin dungeons. There were secret passages all over the castle, there had to be one in here somewhere.

He was in the process of searching the common room yet again when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, something in the lake that surrounded the underground quarters.

He turned to peer closely into the murky water and jumped back in shock at what he saw there.

He'd never taken his cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix to be particularly good at anything, and he'd never seen either of them swimming. Narcissa would rather have died than get her hair wet and Bellatrix cared for nothing that didn't involve a great deal of pain. But despite anything he might have thought about them, the two women were indeed swimming outside in the lake, and staring right back at him through the clear barrier that separated the common room from the Great Lake. Even more surprising, they actually looked pleased to see him.

Bellatrix was pointing at something on his left and despite his better judgement he followed her direction.

Though trial and error, and with a lot of help from the two women, Sirius finally found the hidden passageway of the Slytherin quarters. He wasn't surprised that he'd not found it before…it led to nothing but the icy waters of the lake.

The stones shifted first one way and then the other. Sirius could hear the outer passageway opening and the water rushing in. Bellatrix and Narcissa disappeared from view and a few moments later he heard the sounds of stones moving once more. He heard the sound of water draining from the passageway and then the stones blocking the inner wall opened to reveal not only his two cousins, but also Lucius Malfoy.

It was a mark of how desperate he was, that he was actually slightly happy to see them. Of course, that happiness was largely due to the fact that they had provided him with a way out of the building.

The joy of imminent escape was somewhat short-lived though. It was replaced with blind panic as a dripping wet set of arms was flung around him and his mouth was captured in a very demanding kiss.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus had no idea where he was, but he knew as soon as he opened his eyes that he was in deep trouble.

"Well, look at this," the cold voice laughed. "Our fearless leader has finally woken up."

Remus struggled into a sitting position as he looked at the men – the werewolves – surrounding him.

"Are you going to explain where you vanished to last full moon?" another man asked. "Are you going to explain why you didn't answer the call of the Dark One?"

Remus stood up with a groan of pain. He wasn't sure what had happened to him, but the spell that Dumbledore had cast had been not only powerful, but very painful.

"He's not going to answer," the first werewolf stated firmly. "He's betrayed the Dark One and the pack."

"I've never betrayed anyone," Remus replied. "Where I was on the full moon is none of your business, not that I remember any of it anyway."

The second werewolf laughed. "He's got you on that one."

"The Dark One will want an explanation," a third man added. "We should take him before him."

Remus stood up straighter and calmly shrugged. "Lead the way," he ordered, hoping that they could not tell his voice was shaking.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius struggled against Lucius as he tried to prise the other man off of him. Finally a sharp knee to the groin did the job and Lucius fell to the ground, clutching himself in pain.

"What did you do that for?" Lucius gasped. "We're here to rescue you."

Sirius glared at his cousins as Lucius continued to writhe on the floor. He didn't turn round at the sound of a pointed cough from the other side of the room. Instead he watched Bellatrix and Narcissa as they saw the other Sirius Blacks stepping out of the shadows.

Bellatrix recovered first, cackling wildly as she realised what had happened. "So many Sirius Blacks." She laughed loudly. "But which one is ours?"

Sirius shrugged and looked down at Lucius. "Should be easy enough to figure out," he commented. "Only two of us are…er…that way inclined…and it certainly isn't me."

"That would be me," the Slytherin Sirius in question said as he bent down to help Lucius up off the floor.

"Sorry," Lucius mumbled, though whether he was apologising to his Sirius or the one he'd been groping a few moments before was debatable.

"Well, now that's sorted, let's get out of here," Narcissa demanded. She was already turning back to the passageway. "Best of luck to the rest of you. Come on, Sirius."

"We're not just staying here," Sirius chimed in, turning to the duplicates of his cousins rather than risk being scared for life by the sight of himself snogging Lucius Malfoy as though his life depended on it.

"Doesn't that bother you?" he asked Narcissa, pointing back over his shoulder.

"Why would it?" Narcissa replied instead of answering the question. "Our marriage is in name only, it keeps our families happy, and as long as we produce an heir we can live our own lives however we like."

"Sounds like this Sirius is some sort of homophobe," Bellatrix sneered. "Shall I help to open up his mind a little?"

Sirius looked warily at Bellatrix who was brandishing her wand menacingly. She had different values and priorities, but the same glimmer of madness was in her eyes.

Sirius braced himself before he spoke again. "I say we all get out of here and then back to our own worlds."

"We know a way back to our own," Narcissa said, the unspoken words coming through loud and clear.

"But not the rest of our worlds," Sirius added. Narcissa nodded reluctantly.

"Well, anything is better than being in here," Sirius declared.

"You know something?" the Sirius who the rescuers had come for said. "I'm a little tired of you making the decisions for all of us. This is my family and I say that puts me in charge, not you."

Lucius nodded approvingly and Sirius tried not to see the way his arm had crept around his double's waist beneath his robes.

Sirius nodded reluctantly. If it meant that he got out of here, he'd let the others take charge of the situation…for now.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus didn't know what he was expecting when he was brought before the Dark One, as the other werewolves called their master. He had been expecting Lord Voldemort, but knew immediately that this was not the man he had sometimes heard referred to as the Dark Lord.

The wizard standing before him was thin and blond hair reached down his back. He didn't turn round when Remus entered the room, flanked by two of the werewolves who had unknowingly greeted his arrival in this new world.

"Where were you on the night of the full moon, my wolf?" The voice was low and held the hint of a foreign accent.

Remus raised his chin high as he replied. "I don't remember. Call it an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."

Loud laughter rang out and the wizard turned round to face him. He was older than Remus had first guessed him to be, and there was quite a bit of grey in the blond hair now that he looked at him more closely.

"Leave us," the wizard said, waving towards the door.

The other werewolves left the room, leaving Remus alone with the Dark One.

The wizard moved closer and looked at Remus appraisingly. "The resemblance is uncanny," he commented. "Truly remarkable."

Remus remained silent, wondering if the words meant what he thought they did.

"You wonder whether I know you aren't him," the Dark One commented quietly. "Oh, I know. Even if my loyal werewolf hadn't told me of my former adversary contacting him from another world, I would know you weren't him. There's no hate in your eyes, no fire. You have the same physical scars, but not the rest of them."

"What are you going to do about it?" Remus asked. "Kill me?"

"I'm going to let you go," the wizard replied simply.

Remus blinked a couple of times as the words sank in. "You are?"

"You will be free to leave shortly, but remember, I do nothing without a reason, and you will owe me for this. Your life is mine until I call in the favour."

Remus watched as the wizard reached for his arm, and looked down at his wrist knowingly. "As I thought," he said as he pointed his wand at the bare skin.

Remus hissed as a sharp pain shot through his arm, a burning sensation that made him cringe. Then he saw on his arm the appearance of a symbol he'd never seen before, not the dark mark of Lord Voldemort, but the simple symbols of a circle within a triangle, with a line splitting them both down the middle. He frowned as the symbols vanished, but he could tell they were still there, hidden beneath the surface.

"Now you will know when I summon you, and you would be ill-advised to ignore my command."

Remus nodded. He was slightly confused but thankful that he was being released, if only for the moment. He hoped he would be safely back in his own world before the summons arrived.

* * *

A/N: This is the shortest chapter so far, but it was going to get way too long if I didn't cut it off here. Comments are always welcome and I hope I didn't traumatise anyone with this one.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to CrazyRV, the only one who has not been traumatised completely by the last chapter.

Chapter 5

"_Bet you I can stay longer as Padfoot than you can as Wormtail," Sirius teased Peter with a grin. "Though we can both outdo Prongs with no trouble at all."_

_Remus smiled as they teased and joked with each other on the first day of the Christmas holidays of their fifth year. "Do you take that bet?" he asked Peter with a smirk. "What will the winner get?"_

"_You think Wormtail will beat me?" Sirius asked in astonishment. "Take that back."_

"_Wormtail can hide easily if a teacher comes up here," Remus pointed out. "You're a ruddy great dog."_

_The friendly arguing continued for another hour until the terms of the bet were set out to everyone's satisfaction._

_Nine days later Sirius counted his winnings and gloated over his victory. None of the other marauders ever managed to beat his record. _

-o-xXx-o-

Remus apparated to the Potter residence as soon as he'd left the presence of the Dark One. At least he hoped it was the Potter residence in this particular world.

Thankfully it seemed that his luck was in. He rang the bell and a moment later a familiar voice called out to James to get the door. It seemed that James and Lily were together in this world too. He smiled, eager to see the couple again, though in reality he had only seen them the day before.

The door opened and James stood on the threshold with his jaw hanging down. The astonishment swiftly vanished and was replaced with a look of coldness that Remus had never seen before, at least not directed at him. He recalled the words of the Dumbledore impostor and knew that not only had the Remus of this world severed ties with his friends, he'd done it completely and there was clearly ill-feeling between them.

"Well?" James snapped. "What do you want?"

Remus recoiled slightly at the hostility but didn't change his mind about enlisting the help of the rest of the marauders. "Can we talk?" he asked.

"What do you want?" James repeated impatiently.

"I need your help," Remus said, but before he could begin to explain James began to laugh loudly. There was no humour in his laughter and he shook his head as he looked at Remus. "Please, Prongs?"

"Don't call me that!" James hissed. "Don't you dare call me that ever again!"

"James, will you at least let me explain?" Remus begged. James was already beginning to close the door on him and Remus pulled out his wand to stop him.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius watched as the rest of the duplicates gathered in the common room, their escape imminent. He waited patiently as the others stepped into the passageway and finally there was only himself and one of the Ravenclaws left.

"After you," the Ravenclaw offered. Sirius nodded and stepped into the tunnel. Behind him, he heard the sound of a door opening and he twisted round to see a familiar face in the doorway.

"Remus!" he called out, stepping towards the common room entrance eagerly.

He had only gone a pace or two when Remus raised his wand and pointed it towards the escaping prisoners. "CRUCIO!" he yelled.

Sirius braced himself for the pain but it didn't come. He saw the Ravenclaw fall to the ground and heard him scream out in pain.

Then hands were tugging him into the passageway and the stones were closing, leaving Remus and the Ravenclaw in the common room.

"Open the door!" Sirius ordered. "We're not all here."

"It's too late," Bellatrix argued. "If we go back we'll all get caught."

"We can't just leave him there."

"We got who we came for," Lucius replied as the water began to pour into the passageway. He pointed his wand at his lover who ducked his head under the water to allow the Bubblehead Charm to be cast.

"Open the door!" Sirius demanded again.

Lucius ignored him and turned to another Sirius who copied the first one and was soon breathing underwater.

Sirius continued to argue, being backed up by one of the other Gryffindors and the solitary Hufflepuff.

Unfortunately the water was slowly rising and Sirius had no choice but to let Narcissa cast the Bubblehead Charm on him.

Behind him, the wall separated them from the final prisoner, but there was nothing he could do to save him.

-o-xXx-o-

"James, who is it?" Lily called from the living room.

"No one," James called back as he tried to close the door again.

Remus cast a spell to fling the door back open. "James, please let me in."

"Piss off, Lupin!" James snarled as he tugged at the door again.

"James," Lily called again. "You're letting a draught in, who is it?"

"It's Remus," Remus called, hoping that Lily, who had always been a good friend to him, would be more prepared to listen to him.

Remus heard Lily's light footsteps hurrying into the hallway. "Lily," he greeted her with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked. Her voice wasn't as cold as James' had been, but it was certainly lacking in its usual warmth.

"I need your help," Remus explained. "I'm in so much trouble and if you'd just let me explain…"

"Why don't you ask your precious pack?" James asked.

"You're my pack," Remus replied. "You and Sirius and Peter. You're the only pack I've ever had or ever wanted."

"Turned you away have they?" James asked with a small amount of glee. "Well, it's too late for you to come crawling back here now. You burned your bridges good and proper and I'll never forgive you for what you've done to Sirius."

"Sirius?" Remus echoed. "Do you know where he is? Maybe he'll listen to me, since you won't."

James laughed and shook his head. Lily just shook her head mutely, a confused expression on her face. "You want to talk to Padfoot." He laughed again and opened the door wide.

Remus didn't hesitate to step inside, he didn't know how long the offer of entrance was going to last. "Where is he?" he asked.

James pointed towards the living room and Remus hurried into the room. Sirius, or more accurately Padfoot, was stretched out on the rug in front of the fireplace, even though it wasn't lit. The dog raised his head slightly when Remus came into the room, but he didn't leap up and bound over to greet him.

"Hello," Remus said quietly as he knelt down on the floor. "Are you going to yell at me too?"

Padfoot laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

"The silent treatment, huh?"

There was no reaction from Padfoot although a glance towards the door revealed a smug looking James.

"Let's go into the kitchen," Lily suggested, steering James along with her. "Give them a little while to talk."

Remus nodded his thanks before turning back to Padfoot. "You going to turn back into your normal self?" he asked in a conversational tone. Padfoot continued to ignore him so he continued on regardless.

"I guess I should tell you straight away that I'm not the Remus that you know. I'm another one, literally. I'm from another world where things are a bit different, a lot different actually. My Sirius, that's the one from my world, disappeared and an impostor took his place. When I found out I flooed Dumbledore for help, but it turned out he was an impostor too. They sent me to this world and got the Remus that you know to take my place." He glanced down at Padfoot to see how he was taking the news but the dog hadn't changed position at all. "You following all this?"

Padfoot yawned widely and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, it sounds incredibly confusing. But you've got to believe me, you've got to. Sirius, my Sirius, is in trouble and I've got to find him. I haven't a clue where to start and I need all the marauders to help me. So, are you in?"

Padfoot didn't move.

"Interesting story," James commented. He and Lily had clearly gone no further than just out of sight and had heard every word. "Padfoot doesn't seem to believe you though, and neither do I."

"Why not?"

"Let me rephrase that," James said as he walked into the room and sat down on the sofa. Padfoot stood up and trotted over to him. He jumped onto the sofa and rested his head on James' lap. "I don't know whether to believe you or not. I just don't care enough to find out if you're telling the truth or not."

"What exactly did the Remus in this world do that's so terrible?" Remus asked.

"You mean besides joining the Dark One?"

Lily walked over and joined James on the sofa. She reached over to pet Padfoot who whined slightly and shifted closer to her. "You and Sirius are still friends in your world?" she asked.

"We're all still friends," Remus replied as he leaned back against the wall. "What happened in this world to break up the marauders?"

Lily and James looked at each other, silently communicating as Remus waited for their reply.

"What was the longest time that the Sirius in your world stayed in his animagus form for?" Lily finally asked.

Remus looked back at her, the questioning confusing him with its seemingly randomness. "Nine days back in the Christmas holidays in fifth year. He and Wormtail had a bet over who could stay in their animagus form the longest. I don't think he ever stayed as a dog longer than that though. Why do you ask?"

"Sirius has been living at Padfoot since the end of sixth year," Lily replied quietly. "He's not turned back into his human form once since then."

"What?" Remus looked at the large black dog in shock. "He must have done. You can't be with him all the time. He…"

"He hasn't changed back once," James interrupted. "Not for so much as a minute, and it's all your fault!"

"What happened?" Remus asked, his eyes not leaving Padfoot who was staring back at him intently.

"That's just what I'd like to know," James snapped. "I could take a guess, but there are only two people who know for sure and neither of you are talking."

"James," Lily said warningly. "If Remus is telling the truth he has no more idea of what happened than we do."

"We both know what happened," James replied. "Sirius finally plucked up the courage to tell this selfish little prick how he felt and it went badly enough that he turned into Padfoot and won't change back."

"You think Sirius turned into Padfoot because your Remus rejected him?" Remus asked with surprise. "The Sirius I know wouldn't let a simple rejection stop him from living his life."

"A simple rejection? There was nothing simple about it!" James stood up and stalked across the room. "The dorm looked like a cyclone had swept through. The place was trashed and Padfoot was lying in the middle of it, beaten to within an inch of his life. He was in the hospital wing for over a week. You knew how he felt about you, you played with his feelings all year, encouraging him and flirting with him. Then when he finally opened up to you, you…"

"Knocked him back and beat him up," Remus concluded on his own. "Damn."

Lily was still stroking Padfoot's fur and Remus got to his feet and walked over towards them. He crouched down by the sofa and reached out towards the large black dog gently. "I'm sorry, Padfoot," he whispered quietly into the dog's ear. "I'm so sorry." Padfoot finally turned to look him in the eye, but Remus couldn't maintain the eye contact as he looked into the sorrowful eyes of the dog.

He turned to leave and no one tried to stop him. No one called him back as he walked from the room, down the hall and out of the door.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius stumbled out of the Great Lake and ran for the cover of the Forbidden Forest. A quick glance behind him revealed the same building that he had always known and loved. Hogwarts was still the same impressive castle, it only had a different function. He wondered if he would ever again see the school he had loved since the moment he'd first laid eyes on it.

"This way," Lucius ordered as they moved further into the trees.

"Hogsmeade's the other way," one of the Sirius's said.

"Yeah, we'll just walk straight into the nearest village after breaking you lot out of there," Narcissa sneered. "No wonder you were all stupid enough to get yourselves captured."

"Hey!" several Sirius's exclaimed in various tones of irritation.

"Where are we going then?" Hufflepuff Sirius asked.

"Back to our world," Lucius replied. "The doorway is still open, you lot can come along if you like, it's up to you."

Sirius stood in the clearing with the rest of his doubles. He wasn't keen on the idea of leaving this world for another new one, but nor was he particularly enthusiastic about staying in this one either. He simply wanted to go home.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus had walked nearly half a mile down the lane when he heard the sound of doggy footsteps running up behind him. He turned round to see Padfoot racing towards him. The dog skidded to a halt a few feet away from him and Remus waited quietly to see what he had decided. James and Lily had followed after Padfoot but were still quite a way behind.

"Padfoot!" James yelled as he hurried to catch up. "Get back here!"

"He's not a dog," Lily pointed out. "He's still Sirius inside, and you know he'll do what he wants."

Remus smiled at that and sat down on the grass verge. Padfoot nuzzled at him and Remus ruffled his fur affectionately. "You know, it's rather hard to have a serious discussion with you when you're a dog."

"You think I haven't pointed that out to him a million times already?" James asked as he finally caught up with them.

Remus continued to play with Padfoot as he contemplated his next move. "Come on Padfoot, let me speak to Sirius," he asked.

Finally, something seemed to get through to the animagus and Remus watched as Padfoot transformed back into Sirius.

"You turn back for him?" James shouted with frustration. "After all this time, you turn back for the one who sent you over the edge?"

"It's not him," Sirius whispered, his voice weak from lack of use.

"You believe me?" Remus asked.

"I loved our Remus for years, and always hoped to see that same love returned. I never did…until today."

"Ah."

"He never said anything about being in love with the Sirius of his world," James pointed out.

"He didn't have to," Sirius replied quietly. "When did you get together?"

"Just after Christmas in sixth."

"You happy?"

"We were until I found my Sirius replaced with a double."

"I'll help you find him," Sirius offered. "I've no idea how, but I want to help."

"Thank you."

James looked less than thrilled at the prospect.

"And you can stay with us until we find a way to get you and your Sirius home again," Sirius added. "James and Lily have plenty of room."

"Do I get a say in this?" James asked.

"It's okay," Remus said. "You don't have to put me up or anything. Just let me floo Dumbledore and I'll be out of your way."

"Who's that?" James asked. "One of your werewolf friends?"

Remus turned to James and a feeling of dread crept through him. "What do you mean, who's Dumbledore? He's the greatest wizard ever, headmaster of Hogwarts, member of the Wizengamot…how can you not know him?"

James shrugged. "Never heard of him."

"Who's headmaster of Hogwarts?" Remus asked in a whisper.

"Headmistress Sprout," Lily told him, as though this was something he should know.

"You mean you've never heard of Albus Dumbledore?"

"The name's familiar," Lily admitted. "I just can't remember where from."

"I know where from," Sirius said. "He was the only wizard who came close to defeating the Dark One. It was years ago, before any of us had been born. He and Grindelwald…" Lily and James flinched slightly as he said the name. "…they duelled and Albus Dumbledore was defeated. He was imprisoned somewhere in Europe. He escaped – some say Grindlewald let him – and hasn't been seen in years." He turned to Remus with a frown. "If you're counting on this Dumbledore to help you, I think you're going to be in for a big disappointment."

"Story of my life," Remus muttered. "Guess I'm on my own then."

"No, you're not," Sirius told him firmly. "You've got me. If you want me."

Remus nodded his thanks, ignoring the double meaning in the words that he knew were deliberate. This wasn't his world or his Sirius no matter how familiar the love in the grey eyes appeared.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Apologies for the delay. As usual, it is a case of too many fics and too little time. At the moment I am very much concentrating on Once in a Blue Moon and everything else is on a bit of a back-burner. I will try and update this one once a month though. Enjoy.

Chapter 6

"_Ta da!" Sirius announced as he approached the door to their new flat and deposited his school trunk on the floor. Grinning widely he sat down on his trunk to wait for Remus._

_Remus smiled at his boyfriend's enthusiasm and tugged his own trunk alongside it, sitting down on the lid with a sigh of relief. The locals were mostly muggles and since they weren't on the floo network yet it had taken more effort than they had anticipated to get their belongings up the stairs. _

_It had been a long day, despite spending a large portion of it on the Hogwart's Express. _

"_Any particular reason we're sitting out here, instead of going inside?" Remus asked conversationally. _

"_I just need a minute to get my breath back," Sirius explained. "Then I'll be ready."_

"_For what?"_

"_To carry you over the threshold, of course."_

_Remus snorted with laughter. "You're not serious?"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Sirius, I'm not a girl."_

"_I figured that out back in first year," Sirius muttered. "And any occasional doubts were put from my mind as soon as we started shagging."_

_Remus replied to that comment with a punch to Sirius's arm. "Daft git!"_

"_So, will you let me?"_

"_No!"_

"_But it's tradition."_

"_We're not married, I'm not a girl, and you know if I suggested carrying you, you'd hate the idea too."_

"_You hate the idea?" Sirius sounded disappointed and Remus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I thought you'd like it."_

_Remus sighed and buried his face in his hands. _

"_You can carry me, if you like," Sirius suggested quietly. _

_Five minutes later saw Sirius nursing a sure to be bruised forehead and Remus convinced that he'd probably broken his back._

"_It seemed like a good idea at the time," Sirius whined._

"_Did it?" Remus replied with an exaggerated groan of pain. "Funny that, I thought it was a bloody stupid idea myself."_

_"Then why did you agree to do it?"_

_Remus gave Sirius a look. "Because you asked and gave me those puppy-dog eyes that you know I can't refuse."_

_Sirius smiled and turned those same eyes towards Remus once more. "Are you going to kiss me better?" he asked, pointing to his bruised forehead. Remus chuckled and immediately obliged. He had never been able to resist the puppy-dog eyes, and suspected that no matter how old they grew, that was one thing that would never change._

-o-xXx-o-

"He's not staying in there," James insisted with a frown at Remus that made it clear he was still far from happy at the idea of him staying in his house.

Sirius turned to James, and Remus didn't need to see his face to know that he was giving him the puppy-dog eyes that almost always got him his own way.

"Fine," James snapped. "And where are you going to sleep?"

"This is your room?" Remus asked Sirius when he realised what it was that James was saying. "I can't kick you out of your room. I'll be okay on the couch."

"Don't be daft," Sirius replied. "I've a nice comfy dog bed in here and can curl up in that as Padfoot. I won't be in your way, I promise. Unless you don't want to sleep in the same room as me?"

"What did he do?" Remus asked. "Kick you out the dorm?"

"Moved out himself," Sirius replied with a shrug. "Didn't want to take the risk of me hopping into bed with him. Like I would have after what he…"

"It's okay," Remus said quietly. "You don't have to say anything. And I'm not going to kick you out of your own room."

Sirius smiled and turned back into Padfoot. He trotted past Remus and into the bedroom, leaving James to grab hold of Remus's arm, the warning clear in his eyes. "One wrong move," James hissed in warning. "One wrong move and I'll hex you into the middle of next week."

Remus nodded his confirmation that he had understood the warning.

"I'll get you some clean towels and things," Lily offered.

"Thanks."

"What about clothes?" Lily pointed to the ones he was wearing. "Are those all you have?"

"I didn't really get time to pack," Remus joked. That neither of his two oldest friends even cracked a smile only served to remind him that they weren't his friends at all. He spared a thought for the James and Lily that he knew, and wondered if they had figured out the switch or not.

"I'll dig out some of James's old sweaters and jeans; you look about the same size."

James looked like he was about to protest at the very idea, but a rather familiar glare from Lily caused him to bite back his words.

"Thank you."

Remus turned to follow Padfoot into the room. He closed the door behind him, relieved to shut out the hostility that was coming towards him.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius stood in the clearing, silently debating whether he should take the opportunity to escape from this world or not.

He was still weighing the pros and cons of all his options when he heard the sound of something in the bushes nearby. He reached for his wand, cursing when he remembered he didn't have it. He didn't feel quite so ridiculous when he realised that several of the other doubles had done exactly the same thing.

"There's someone there," Hufflepuff Sirius whispered.

"Or something," the remaining Ravenclaw Sirius added.

"There's enough of us to surround it," one of the Slytherins suggested in a quiet whisper. "We can take it by surprise."

"We could just try calling out first," Hufflepuff Sirius argued.

The Slytherin gave him a look that told him very clearly what he thought of that idea. "I'll go round that way." He pointed to the trees.

Sirius ground his teeth as he tried to ignore that yet again someone besides himself was taking charge of things. Then he wondered, albeit briefly, whether his friends ever thought he was as bossy and irritating as he was finding his doubles.

While he was contemplating this rather depressing prospect, the doubles were moving into position and slowly closing in on whoever, or whatever, was creeping up on them.

"Get it!" one of the Slytherins yelled and as one they charged towards the spot where the sound had come from.

Inevitably, they collided into each other and fell into a tangled heap on the floor.

"Gerrof," Sirius muttered as he pushed one of his doubles away, only to find another one digging his elbow into his ribs.

"Looks like there's no one here after all," the youngest of the Gryffindors commented as he brushed himself off. "Just a fox."

"Guess we've scared it off then, poor animal," Sirius replied as he stood up and picked the dead leaves out of his hair.

"No, it's just there." Sirius looked towards where the youngster was pointing, and sure enough a fox was sitting staring at the group with open curiosity.

"Well, you're a brave little bugger, aren't you?" he said as he crept closer, hoping not to startle the animal.

The fox sat back on its hind legs and its body began to stretch in ways that a fox's body never should have. Sirius's jaw dropped slightly as he watched the animagus return to its human form.

"Not as brave as you lot," Remus commented sarcastically. "How many of you does it require to take on one little animal?"

"Remus?" he whispered. "You're a fox?"

"Clearly. Now, since you're standing there with your mouth hanging open, I am guessing you aren't the one I'm looking for."

Sirius closed his mouth and shook his head. "Show of hands for those who have a Remus animagus in their world?"

One hand was raised, that of the werewolf. Sirius wasn't surprised.

"Hi, Remus," the werewolf said. "You won't believe how glad I am to see you."

Remus pulled the werewolf into a hug. "Not as glad as I am to see you," he replied. "How was the you-know-what?"

"It's okay. They know."

"And?"

"It was okay. It seems that although I'm the only Sirius Black: Werewolf here, there are a couple of Remus Lupin: Werewolves out there. And they have friends who are just as loyal to them as you are to me."

Remus looked a little confused, until the two Sirius animaguses stepped forward and transformed.

"Ah," Remus murmured. "I always wondered what your animagus form would have been."

Sirius transformed back and grinned. "Well, now you know."

"I hate to break this up," Lucius interrupted with a cold sneer. "But if we're going to go back to my world, we really should hurry."

"I still don't know that I want to go with you," Sirius replied. "It's not like you have a clue how to get us home from there."

Werewolf Sirius turned to Remus with a smile. "I'm going with Remus." He turned to his friend. "You can get us home, can't you?"

"I certainly hope so," Remus replied. "Come on, Prongs and Wormtail are waiting for me. They'll be really relieved that we haven't got to try and break you out of the castle."

"You could thank us for doing the job for you," Lucius muttered.

"Thank you," Remus replied automatically. "Come on then, Trouble."

Sirius watched the two of them disappear into the trees and before he knew it he was following after them. "Wait!"

"What is it?" Remus asked.

Sirius took a moment to catch his breath before replying. "Can I come with you?"

"Me too," Hufflepuff Sirius panted as he too caught up.

Sirius turned round and saw that most of the doubles had followed after him, and were intent on taking their chances with him, rather than the previous rescuers. In fact it seemed that although two of the Slytherins had decided to depart with Lucius and his party, all the rest of them were currently traipsing through the trees, intent on following him.

He felt a brief surge of smug pride and turned to Remus and the werewolf. "What do you say? Got room for a few more Sirius Blacks?"

"There's always room for another Sirius Black," one of the Gryffindors commented with a wink. "Come on, how can you resist us?"

Remus looked part amused and part exasperated. Sirius turned on his own particular brand of charm and gave him the practically patented puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine, but you know I've no idea how to get any of you home?"

"That's okay," Sirius said. "We'll figure it out. With this many geniuses on the case, we'll be home in time for supper."

Remus mumbled something entirely uncomplimentary and carried on walking.

Sirius followed behind him, savouring a view that he had no idea he had missed so much.

-o-xXx-o-

"Remus?" Sirius whispered.

Remus turned over in his bed – no – Sirius's bed – he corrected himself. "What's up?" he asked.

"Can I ask you something?"

Remus sat up and patted the covers. "Sure, what is it?"

Sirius gave Remus a look that said he could hardly believe he was being allowed to sit on the bed and perched nervously on the end.

"I don't bite you know?" Remus said as he budged over slightly to make more room for Sirius. "Except on the full moon."

"I know," Sirius replied and he made himself more comfortable by sitting cross-legged on top of the covers. "It's just strange having you here."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, I like it, really."

"What did you want to ask me?"

Sirius looked even more nervous and started to play with a loose thread on the cover. "I was wondering, do you really have to go back to your world?"

"I don't belong here," Remus reminded him. "I have a home and friends who care about me and…"

"And Sirius," Sirius concluded. "_Your_ Sirius."

"Yes, my Sirius, who's missing and in Merlin knows what sort of trouble."

"What if we can't figure out a way to get you home?"

"I hope it won't come to that."

"But if we can't, would you stay here, you know, with me?"

"I'm not your Remus," Remus reminded the animagus gently.

"You think I don't know that?" Sirius snapped, showing a hint of the long since buried Black temper. "My Remus isn't mine. He hates me and would never let me sit with him on the bed like this. He can't even stand to be in the same room as me."

"I'm sorry."

"I just…" Sirius faltered and ducked his head to hide his embarrassment. "I just wanted to believe that maybe, if you did get stuck here, maybe I'd have a chance."

Remus knew what he should say. He knew that he shouldn't offer false hope to the young man sitting opposite him. But then Sirius looked up and the hauntingly familiar puppy-dog eyes were gazing back at him from beneath black eyelashes.

Remus knew he should lie, but this Sirius had been let down so badly and treated so poorly by his double that he knew he couldn't. "You have his eyes," he finally said. "Not just the colour and the shape, but the ability to give me that look that I can never resist."

"What look is that?"

Remus continued as though Sirius hadn't spoken. "In his case, he does it deliberately to get his own way. In your case, I think that you don't even realise you're doing it. It might even be a side-effect of staying in your animagus form for so long. But, the truth is…"

"What?" Sirius whispered.

Remus took a deep breath and pointedly turned away from the familiar grey eyes. "The truth is, the longer I'm stuck here, the harder it's going to be to remember that you're not my Sirius and I don't know if I'll have the willpower to keep a distance between us."

"What if I don't want there to be a distance between us?"

"That's what scares me."

"Why?"

"Because you're not _my_ Sirius, and I can't afford to forget that."

Sirius moved further up the bed until he was in touching distance. "What if I want you to forget it?"

"Please don't do this," Remus begged. "I have to find a way to get home. I can't stay here, and it'll only make it harder on both of us if we…"

Then Sirius was close enough to kiss and Remus could feel his breath on his face. "I've loved you for so long, Remus."

"No, you've loved the Remus of your world, and you know as well as I do that we're two entirely different people."

"I know that, but you're what I always imagined my Remus to be like. I used to dream about you so often."

Remus felt Sirius brushing aside a lock of hair and he reached up to gently push the hand away.

"I think maybe I was dreaming about _you_, in _your_ world, with _your_ Sirius, because even though I was seeing how kind you could be, when I woke up I knew that it wasn't real. But in my dreams you were kind…are you kind, Remus?"

Remus hesitated slightly. "I don't know," he finally answered. "I hope I'm kind, but sometimes I think perhaps I'm not."

"You're kind to your Sirius though?"

"Yes," Remus replied warily.

"Then, would it be so difficult to be kind to me, just while you're here?"

Instinctively, Remus knew that Sirius wasn't merely asking for kindness and he sighed.

"Just for as long as you're here," Sirius whispered as he planted a hesitant kiss on Remus's cheek. "Let me have this, just for a little while…please?"

Remus shook his head and moved further across the bed. "I can't betray Sirius like that."

"But I'm Sirius, too," Sirius pointed out. "I'm not asking you to take me back to your world with you. I'm just asking for however long you're here."

Remus sighed again and turned to look at Sirius. The puppy-dog eyes were gazing back at him, and for the first time since he had met this particular Sirius Black, it seemed that they were being deliberately used against him in order for Sirius to get his own way. Remus realised that he should never have told Sirius about his weakness, because this _was_ Sirius Black after all. He may have been used and abused by the Remus Lupin of his world, but he was still Sirius Black…a young man used to getting his own way and willing to use whatever wiles he could to get it.

"Remus…" Sirius whispered as he leaned in closer.

Remus closed his eyes in the hope that by not seeing the puppy-dog eyes, he could resist them.

"Remus…" Sirius murmured, and he was close enough for Remus to feel the warm breath ghosting across his lips.

He kept his eyes shut as he felt the soft lips touch his own.

Damn those puppy-dog eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

_Remus was drowning in Sirius's kiss. He needed oxygen but he couldn't bring himself to pull away long enough to take a breath._

_Hands were stroking his back, creeping lower and lower, beneath the waistband of his pyjamas, caressing his arse and pulling him even closer. _

_Remus knew that he could easily drown in the sensations that he had discovered as the lover of Sirius Black. _

_He loved everything about the man beneath him, even his flaws. _

"_Love you, Sirius," he gasped._

_He leaned down to kiss him once again, Sirius straining upwards to meet him part way. _

_Remus was drowning in Sirius's kisses and didn't think he could ever get enough of them._

-o-xXx-o-

The lips against his were soft and familiar, but the kiss wasn't that of Sirius Black.

It was soft, sweet even, but had a nervous and hesitant quality to it.

The passion that Sirius usually poured into his kisses was missing, but a tenderness had taken its place. Remus felt Sirius's hand caressing his cheek as the kiss deepened. He knew he should pull away, but he just couldn't seem to find the willpower to do so.

He felt a tongue brushing against his lips and moaned slightly when Sirius tilted his head to a more comfortable angle.

The longer the kiss continued, the more familiar it felt. Remus flicked out his tongue to meet Sirius's and felt one of Sirius's arms reach around his back to pull him closer still.

Their knees bumped together on the mattress and Remus shifted his position so that he was straddling Sirius's thighs. Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, he was trying to remember why he shouldn't be doing this, but the longer they kissed the harder it was to recall the reasons why this was so very wrong.

"Never knew it could be like that," Sirius gasped as he clung to Remus.

The words were enough to bring Remus back to reality, to remind him where he was and who he was with. "Shit!" he swore as he pushed Sirius away.

"Remus?" Sirius asked, his voice still somewhat breathless.

Remus looked at Sirius in horror. "I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't betray him like this."

"He'll forgive you," Sirius replied as he caressed Remus's cheek. "I forgave my Remus far more than this. Your Sirius will understand."

"You're right," Remus agreed. "He would forgive me anything, even this."

"Then what's stopping us?"

"He might forgive me, but I'll never forgive myself," Remus stated simply. "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

Sirius nodded sadly, but climbed off of the bed. A moment later a large black dog was in the young man's place and the animal climbed into the dog bed with barely a whimper.

Remus burrowed back under the covers and tried to sleep, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the kiss. He knew Sirius would forgive him, but that did nothing to alleviate the guilt that had settled around his heart. He had to find a way back to his own Sirius, and soon.

-o-xXx-o-

"Bloody hell!" the remaining Ravenclaw Sirius said as they approached the Lupin family home.

Sirius stood gaping at the mansion they were approaching. It made Malfoy Manor look like a hovel and as for Grimmauld Place…

He shook his head as he followed the others up the driveway. Remus had always said that his family had spent all their savings and money trying to find a cure for his Lycanthropy. He'd never said that they'd been this wealthy. He wondered if this wealth was unique to the Remus of this world, but quickly realised that that was probably not the case.

The mansion was in the same location where Remus had told him the Lupins used to live. From what he had said, the Lupins who lived in this mansion had the same professions as Remus's parents had, before they had given up everything to try to find a cure.

"What's the library like?" he asked with a grin.

"Extensive," Remus replied shortly without turning round.

Sirius had no doubt about that. "So, what's your nickname?" he asked.

"Don't have one."

"Liar."

"Fine, it's none of your business. My nickname is for my friends only."

"I'll find out eventually," Sirius told him. "I'm Padfoot by the way. With all us Sirius Blacks hanging around, it'll be easier to just call me by Padfoot if you want to get my attention."

"And why would I want to do that?"

Sirius ground his teeth in annoyance. "Have I done something to annoy you, or do you always have a broom up your arse?"

Remus turned to glare at him. Well, at least that got a reaction.

"You shouldn't frown like that," Sirius advised. "You'll get wrinkles. You should smile instead, it takes less muscles to smile and makes you look really sexy."

Remus's frown deepened and he turned his back on Sirius.

"Must be losing my touch," Sirius muttered to himself as Remus let them into the house.

"Guest rooms are in the West Wing," Remus told them and he pointed the way.

"Where do you sleep?" Sirius asked. "In case we need anything."

Remus merely scowled at him.

"Sirius!" Sirius, and all his counterparts looked to where the voice had come from and saw a petite blonde barrelling down the stairs towards them.

"Amy!" Werewolf Sirius called as he hurried over to her and swept her into his arms with a grin. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at our place?"

"Knew you'd come here first," Amy replied, as though this was obvious. "Who are all this lot?" She pointed at the various Siriuses who were standing around, as though waiting for something to happen.

"My doubles from other worlds," Sirius explained. "We've brought them back here to try and get them home."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure if anyone can manage it, you can."

"Actually," Sirius interrupted. "Before we all get home, we could do with making a detour back to the last world."

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Because one of us got left behind in the prison."

"And you couldn't have mentioned this back there?"

"You seemed kind of anxious to get back to your friends." He gave James and Peter a pointed look.

"You should still have said something."

"I'm saying something now."

"Fine, I'll see what we can do."

"Good. Now, what's for dinner around here?"

Remus, despite not being a werewolf, gave a very wolf-like growl as he stalked across the hall.

Sirius turned to James. "Is he always like this?"

"Not usually," James admitted. "I think you just rub him up the wrong way."

"Or the right way," Peter suggested with a snicker.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you figure that out for yourself," James said. "Kitchen's down the hall on the left." He pointed the way Remus had gone and Sirius followed after him.

Remus was rummaging around in the larder when Sirius arrived in the kitchen. "Dinner won't be ready for at least an hour," he told him. "You might as well go and settle in upstairs."

"Don't want to."

"Suit yourself."

"Are you going to tell me what I've done, or do I have to guess?"

Remus ignored him and slammed various pots and pans onto the work surface.

"I usually know when I've done something to upset my Remus," Sirius continued.

"Presumably because he tells you what you've done."

"Not always. So, are you going to tell me what I've done?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you haven't done anything…that I know of."

"Then why are you being such a complete arse?"

Remus flushed. "Maybe I just don't want my home overrun with Sirius Blacks."

"Possibly, but I'm not buying that explanation."

"You think you know me that well?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're wrong. You don't know me at all. I don't want you here. I have my hands full with one Sirius Black, without having to put up with a whole house of them, eating everything in sight, leaving things lying all over the place, flirting with every female with a pulse and generally disturbing my peace and quiet."

"Oh."

Remus looked like he was about to continue with further complaints, but Sirius raised a hand to stop him from speaking.

"I don't eat that much, especially if I eat as a dog. I don't have anything to leave lying around, and I don't flirt with every female with a pulse as you put it. In fact, I don't flirt – not seriously anyway – with anyone except my partner."

"Really? Do you know how many worlds I visited before I finally found our missing Sirius? Fourteen. Fourteen worlds, with fourteen Sirius Blacks and each one seems to have been a serial flirt with a one track mind when it comes to the opposite sex. I have had as much as I can take of the lot of you, and while I will do everything I can to get you all home, that doesn't mean I want to spend so much as a minute with you."

"You're really not like my Remus at all, are you?" Sirius mused.

"You mean I'm not fawning all over you and hanging on your every word?"

"My Remus doesn't do that, but he is polite and hospitable to his guests. I'm surprised your Sirius puts up with you."

"My Sirius is the only one of you lot I'm able to stand, but even he spends most of his time mooning over Amy and wandering around like a love-sick puppy."

"And what about you? Do you have anyone you moon over?"

"What's it to you?"

"Just trying to make conversation."

"I suggest you stick to less inquisitive subjects…the weather perhaps?"

"I prefer to talk about you."

"Well, I don't!"

Remus slammed utensils onto the table and proceeded to thoroughly ignore Sirius.

Eventually Sirius gave up and stood to leave. "You always were the only one who could ignore me quite so completely," he said as he closed the door behind him.

-o-xXx-o-

That night Sirius sat outside on the balcony of the room he had commandeered as his own. There was no point in trying to sleep; he hadn't had a decent night's kip since he had been snatched from his world. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes that he'd begged from one of his doubles. It was a disgusting habit, and Remus would do his nut if he could see him – he'd quit barely weeks after starting the habit after Remus had told him it was like kissing an ashtray. But he needed something to occupy his hands and it was either a fag or a wank and he'd already taken the opportunity to do the latter three times since dinner.

He flicked the hot ash over the railing and stared up at the night sky.

"That's a revolting habit, you know?" Remus called from the inside his room.

"What's it to you?" Sirius replied calmly as he took another drag.

"Nothing, just making a comment."

"You want something?"

"I saw you from the gardens," Remus told him. "I brewed you a sleeping potion since you seem to be having trouble."

"Trying to poison me?"

"Just trying to help."

"Considering your skill in Potions, I doubt that very much."

"I got an Outstanding at NEWT Potions, I'll have you know."

"Really?" Sirius turned round in his chair so that Remus could see his surprise.

"Yes, really. Didn't your Remus?"

"Barely scraped an OWL and didn't bother with the NEWT."

"Yeah, well...it's a perfectly good sleeping potion. You should drink it while it's still fresh though."

Sirius shrugged. He didn't want a sleeping potion, he knew it wouldn't help. Getting to sleep wasn't the problem; it was the nightmares that disturbed his rest that troubled him, and the calming presence of Remus wasn't there to help him through the night.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus crept from his bed in the early hours of the morning, carefully tiptoeing out of the door so as not to wake the sleeping canine.

He was relieved that his kidnappers had seen fit to leave him his wand, though it wasn't too surprising since they wanted the people here to believe that he was his double. Not to mention that they hadn't stuck around long enough for him to even regain consciousness, let alone use it on them.

He wondered if the spell he had in mind would work, but figured that even if it didn't it was worth a shot.

There was no movement in the house and he went into the living room to ensure that no one heard him.

He recalled what Dumbledore had taught him about using the Patronus Charm to communicate and hoped that the Dumbledore of his world had had the same idea. Even more, he hoped that the Dumbledore in this world was still around to get the message he was about to send.

He was so busy concentrating on the spell, he didn't hear the sound of footsteps in the staircase, and he didn't see James Potter watching him from the doorway.

The large dog, a perfect silver copy of the animagus sleeping upstairs, disappeared out of the window with his message and Remus wished he had the ability to follow it.

"You really are a different Remus, aren't you?" James asked quietly.

"I thought we'd already covered this yesterday?" Remus countered.

"I meant completely different. Your Patronus is Padfoot."

"Yeah, has been ever since I could conjure it completely."

"Our Remus's Patronus is some bird."

"A human Patronus?"

James laughed and shook his head. "No, a bird with wings, looked like a vulture or something. You can't fake a Patronus."

"I know. I just hope that it gets my message to Dumbledore soon."

"You can use a Patronus to send messages?"

"Yes, can't you?"

James shook his head and sat down on the sofa. "Never even heard of that being possible."

"Dumbledore taught all the members of the Order how to do it. It's the safest way to communicate."

"What's the Order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix," Remus said. "I guess you call it something different since it was named after Dumbledore's phoenix. It's a group of witches and wizards who are fighting against our own dark wizard…Voldemort."

"One dark wizard gets defeated and another one rises to take his place."

"Unfortunately."

The two young men sat quietly for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Remus wondered whether Dumbledore would know how to send a message back to him. He worried that he hadn't given him enough information and that he'd given him too much. He had half made up his mind to send a second message when James spoke again.

"Have you tried sending a message to your Sirius?"

"I don't even know if he's in this world."

"You could at least try."

Remus shrugged and pulled out his wand again. "It will probably just home in on the Sirius upstairs."

"One way to find out."

Remus cast the charm and watched the large dog form once more. He waited to see which way the Patronus went, but watched in disappointment as it merely shimmered out of sight without leaving the room.

"I guess it didn't know where to go," James suggested.

"I guess not."

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius was just finishing his cigarette when he caught sight of a glimmer of silver out of the corner of his eye.

"_Sirius, I hope this message gets to you okay. I don't know if we're in the same world any more, but I swear I am going to find you and bring you home. I love you."_

"What was that?" Remus asked as the silvery dog vanished.

"That was a message from my Remus," Sirius replied with a smile. "Can I borrow your wand to send one back?"

Remus reluctantly handed over his wand and Sirius tried to cast the charm. It wasn't easy with the unfamiliar wand, but he managed it on the third attempt. The wolf was weaker than Remus's dog, and he hoped it was strong enough to carry his message back.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus watched the silvery Patronus appear in the place where his own had so recently vanished from.

"_Got your message, Moony. Love you too, and am trying to find my way back to you. Try not to do anything stupid."_

"Stupid!" Remus muttered as he pulled out his wand again.

"_Mr Moony would like to point out that Mr Padfoot was the first one to get kidnapped."_

"_You got kidnapped? Where are you?"_

"_On another world. I called Dumbledore for help and couldn't take on him and your double together."_

"_Dumbledore was in on it."_

"_I know that now!"_

"_How long have you been there? Are you doing okay?"_

"_Since yesterday. James and Lily are letting me stay with them. I'm fine."_

"_Why aren't you staying with my double? He's not another evil one, is he?"_

"_He's living here too."_

"_I'm staying with your double too, and a whole bunch of other Sirius Blacks."_

"_Sounds confusing."_

"_I'd say that I wish you could meet them, but I'd rather you didn't. I don't want you falling for the charms of any other Sirius Black but me."_

Remus groaned as the latest of Sirius's messages faded. The ever-present guilt he had been feeling since the previous evening magnified tenfold and he buried his face in his hands. "Fuck!"

James had long since disappeared back upstairs and Remus breathed a sigh of relief that he was not around to see his reaction to the message. This James was far too perceptive for his own good and would be sure to sense that something had happened.

He was still deliberating over what to send back when another Patronus wolf appeared in front of him.

"_Remus? What's wrong? What's happened?"_

Remus pulled out his wand and conjured his Patronus one more time.

"_I need you here, Sirius. I miss you so much. I can't be without you."_

Sirius listened to the message that answered none of his questions at all.

"Sounds like your Remus has been playing away," the other Remus commented.

"He wouldn't!" Sirius snapped as he glared at the smirking wizard standing before him.

"Are you sure? He went quiet when you suggested him falling for another you. You know that one of your doubles is living in the same house as he is. You asked him what was wrong and he ignored the question. Seems to me like he's hiding something."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" Remus smirked at him. "Then why aren't you sending another message back to him?"

Sirius glared at Remus as he cast the spell once again.

"_Love you, Remus. Nothing will ever change that…nothing!"_

--

A/N: Any suggestions for a nickname for Remus the Fox animagus would be much appreciated. I really need to have one before the end of this fic but am struggling to find one that fits. If I use your suggestion, I promise to credit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Remus couldn't believe how well the job interview was going. The fifteen minute appointment had already stretched into more than thirty and showed no signs of winding up any time soon. If it hadn't been discussed earlier, he would have thought that the man sitting at the other side of the desk had missed the word 'werewolf' on his application form. After so many disappointing rejections, he actually wondered if he had a chance for this one._

_Suddenly the interviewer was looking over his shoulder and Remus turned round to see what had caught his eye. He drew in a sharp breath when he saw the silvery wolf patronus standing behind him. He wondered what the emergency was and hoped that Sirius had the sense to keep his message brief. With the escalating war, one couldn't be too careful about what you said in front of strangers. _

"_Hey, Moony. How did the interview go? Are you on your way home yet? I'm cooking your favourite and thought we'd have a romantic meal at home. And for dessert I going to…"_

_Remus felt his face burning red with embarrassment as Sirius detailed what he had planned for dessert…and it had nothing to do with food._

"_Well," the interviewer said with an embarrassed shrug of his own. "You're a…"_

"_Homosexual," Remus said, nodding calmly. "Is that a problem?"_

_The interviewer shook his head, but the atmosphere had changed and Remus knew that the job was forever out of his reach. _

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius had always had the annoying habit of sending his patronus to Remus for every little thing that sprang into his mind. At first it had been amusing and endearing, but Remus had rapidly lost patience with it, even going to far as to threaten to hide Sirius's wand if he so much as looked like he was going to think the spell. The threat had had its desired effect, and Remus had been relieved to find that Sirius could restrain himself from sending his patronus to him every five minutes.

At least that had been the case up until now.

The time they had spent apart, combined with the fact that they were living on two separate worlds, had spurred Sirius to send more patronuses in the last few hours than he had ever sent in his life.

"Here, use this one," Remus muttered, shoving a wand at Sirius with a glare of annoyance. "I'd like my own wand back, if its not too much trouble?"

Sirius sheepishly passed Remus his wand back and took the new one instead. "Where did you get this?"

"It was my father's," Remus replied shortly. "Don't lose it or anything, I want it back as soon as we get you home."

Sirius nodded and cast yet another patronus, sending his latest message across the worlds to Remus.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus sighed as the silver wolf appeared beside him. He gave an apologetic look across the desk to Headmistress Sprout. They had only arrived at Hogwart's ten minutes before, and this was the second patronus to appear in her office already.

"Just ignore it," Remus said, his cheeks flushing slightly at the way everyone was staring at him. "What were you saying about Professor – I mean Albus – Dumbledore?"

"Well, Albus was certainly a student here, but he was never a teacher, as far as I know he never applied for any teaching post at all."

"Ahem!"

Remus turned to look up at the wall to his left. An elderly witch was gazing down at them with a smile.

"Yes?" Headmistress Sprout asked.

"I recall that Albus Dumbledore did apply for a post here," the witch stated. "Headmaster Dippet interviewed him for the position of Transfiguration Professor."

Headmistress Sprout turned to the portrait of Armando Dippet. "Is that correct?"

Dippet looked a little confused by the question but eventually nodded. "I interviewed quite a few people for the post…don't recall this Dumbledore exactly…but I guess I could have done."

"Let's look at the records," Headmistress Sprout suggested, bustling across the room to open a large cupboard. She rifled through the papers within the cupboard for quite a while, before eventually pulling out a long roll of parchment with a triumphant exclamation of glee. "Here we are! Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

James snickered to himself, earning a poke to the ribs from Lily.

"Looks like he applied for the job right out of school," Headmistress Sprout said. "Very young, very young indeed. This must have been before he got mixed up with You-Know-Who. His grades were exceptionally good, a brilliant student."

"Knew coming here was a good idea," Sirius whispered in Remus's ear.

Remus nodded and flashed a smile at Sirius. "You were right," he whispered back.

Sirius glowed under the praise and wriggled in his seat. "You ever think I might be right about other things too?"

Remus sighed. "Please don't do this," he begged, casting a glance at the silver wolf that was in the middle of its third delivery.

Sirius glared at the patronus and Remus sighed again.

"It looks like an old address," Headmistress Sprout warned them. "But it's a place to start."

"Should you really be giving out information to these people?" one of the portraits piped up with obvious disapproval.

"As Mr Dumbledore was never made a member of staff, I don't see why not," Headmistress Sprout replied firmly.

Remus reached out and took the piece of parchment that Headmistress Sprout had scribbled on. He felt cold as he looked at the words she had written; he had seen those words before, they had been engraved on his mind ever since the moment he had first read them.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked. "Is something wrong?"

Remus shot up from his seat and ran from the room. He needed air, he needed to be outside and away from the concerned faces and worried words.

He wasn't sure where he was running to, but he finally found himself near the Willow at the side of the lake. He collapsed against it and leaned his face against the trunk. Absently he mused that even the tree was different, there were no pictures or letters carved into the bark, no moon and star hastily etched into the wood by Sirius on their last day of school. Remus traced the bark with his fingers and growled low in his chest. It wasn't fair.

He expected Sirius to be the one to find him and ask what was the matter, but instead it was Lily who cautiously approached him. "Remus?" she tentatively asked.

"Just give me a minute or two," Remus requested.

Lily, stubborn as ever, sat down beside him, but at least she didn't press him for answers.

Finally he looked up at her.

"What was on the parchment?" Lily asked. James and Sirius approached them and Remus could tell that they were equally curious.

"An address," Remus replied, passing the parchment to Lily as he spoke.

"Godric's Hollow," Lily read. "Never heard of it. Is it important?"

Remus shook his head and gave a short, bitter laugh. "I hope not."

"What's that supposed to mean?" James snapped. "It's always secrets with you, isn't it?"

"You want to know what it means?" Remus snarled, causing James to back up a few paces at his venom. "I'll tell you what it means, since you're so eager to know. This isn't the first world I've been sent to that isn't my own. I've been to others, and one of them was a world that was almost exactly like mine, except it was years in the future."

"I don't understand," Lily interrupted. "You mean you travelled into the future?"

"One possible future," Remus explained. "One where Godric's Hollow became a lot more than a small village that no one had ever heard of. Every wizard had heard of Godric's Hollow in the future. There wasn't a witch who didn't know the name of the place where He was defeated."

"He?" Sirius asked.

"My world has a dark wizard of its own. His name is Lord Voldemort and he was defeated by a baby in Godric's Hollow."

"What?" James asked. "A baby took out a dark wizard? How is that possible?"

"No one knows for sure," Remus admitted. "The history books had a lot of theories. All anyone knows for sure is that Voldemort was last seen at this very address in Godric's Hollow, and after he had killed the parents of the baby he turned his wand on the child and was never seen again. The baby – Harry – survived."

"That never happened here," James said.

"It hasn't happened in my world either," Remus pointed out. "At least not yet."

"You think it will?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. I talked with my double in the future and…"

"And?"

"Let's just say he wasn't exactly celebrating along with the rest of the wizarding world that night."

"You mean he was one of the dark wizard's followers?" Sirius asked.

Remus scowled and shook his head. "No, it's a long story, and I guess it doesn't really matter to anyone in this world. I just have to get back to my world before events overtake us and history repeats itself."

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius knocked on the door to the room he suspected Remus was hiding in. He smiled when he heard the familiar voice call for him to bugger off. He ignored the order and opened the door.

"Are you deaf or something?" Remus asked.

"Thought you might like some help with the research," Sirius offered.

"Since when does Sirius Black crack open a book?"

"Since he started studying human transfiguration in second year," Sirius replied easily. "There's nothing I won't do for my Remus, and if I have to read every book in this place…I will." He waved his hand around the library dramatically.

Remus looked at him briefly before passing him a thick and dusty tome that he had clearly not yet opened. "There you go," he said with a smirk.

Sirius could tell that he was hoping he would merely give up and leave him in peace, but he didn't know Sirius Black as well as all that. He opened the book and began to read, smiling to himself as he caught a glimpse of surprise on Remus's face from the corner of his eye.

-o-xXx-o-

Godric's Hollow was a small village, and not exactly a popular tourist attraction. There was hardly anyone about when Remus and the others arrived, just a couple of teenage muggle boys kicking a ball around a nearby field.

"Which way?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "I don't know; I've never been here."

"No pictures in the books you read?"

"Only one of the monument that was raised to the family. Obviously that isn't here yet."

"Let's try this way," Lily suggested.

"Why?" James asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just guess that if I was living here, I'd want to live down this way."

Remus felt a shiver tingling down his spine at her words. He had a horrible feeling that Lily's instincts would lead them directly to the house where so much tragedy had taken place on another world.

"This is where the monument stood," he said, recognising the spot from the picture.

"What was it of?" Sirius asked.

"The parents and the baby."

"You say that like you knew them," Sirius said quietly.

"I knew their doubles," Remus replied. "Or rather I know them, they're still alive and well in my world, at least I hope they still are."

"So, would the house be around here?" James asked impatiently.

Remus shrugged and waved over an elderly woman who appeared to be returning from a shopping trip. "Excuse me!" he called, hurrying towards her.

A couple of quick questions later and the old woman was pointing the way to the address they needed. Remus thanked her and they all continued on their way.

The house was small and had an air of neglect to it. The flowerbeds were in need of watering and the door hadn't seen a coat of paint in years.

Remus walked purposefully down the path and knocked on the door. The sound of movements came from inside and a minute later the door opened to reveal an elderly man who looked far from pleased to see them.

"What do you want?" he asked in a voice that was part bored and part irritated.

"We're…I'm…trying to locate a Mr Albus Dumbledore," Remus explained. "We understand he used to live here."

"He did."

Remus frowned at the shortness of the response. "You're saying he no longer lives here?"

"You catch on quick."

Remus watched in stunned surprise as the man closed the door in his face without another word.

"Well, that went well," James commented from behind him.

-o-xXx-o-

"Got anything yet?" Sirius asked when Remus tossed another book aside.

"Does it look like it?" Remus replied. "Why don't you do something useful and try to get your useless doubles to do something to help?"

"They'd help anyway if you weren't so bloody rude to them."

"They don't seem that eager to get home," Remus muttered. "Seem to be making themselves quite at home here."

"It must be the pleasure of your company," Sirius teased. "Plus they don't have the added incentive I have."

Remus snorted under his breath.

"Got something to say?" Sirius asked mildly.

Remus ignored him. Sirius was getting used to it.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus hammered on the door to the house again. They really didn't have time for this. "Open up, we need to talk to you!"

It took several minutes of banging and shouting before the very disgruntled man opened the door once more. "Clear off!" he ordered. "Before I call the Aurors on you."

Remus pushed on the door, forcing it to remain open. "Where can we find Albus Dumbledore?" he asked. "Tell us and we'll be gone, I promise."

"No idea," the man replied.

"You're lying."

"What's it to you? What do you want with him?"

"We need his help. I need his help."

"My brother never helped anyone except himself," the man told them.

"Aberforth?" Remus whispered, barely having recognised the man in front of him as the owner of the Hog's Head, a public house in Hogsmeade that he and his friends had frequented a great deal during their later years at Hogwart's.

"Do I know you?"

"Yes, I mean no. I've heard about you though."

Aberforth looked at him suspiciously. "What have you heard?"

"All good," Remus hurriedly assured him. "I know you're a good man. Please. If you know where I can find Albus, you have to tell me."

Aberforth looked at him for several long minutes. "I don't know where he is," he finally replied. "But the Dark One probably does."

Sirius stepped forward cautiously. "I heard that Albus Dumbledore was imprisoned by the Dark One, and that he escaped."

"You heard that, did you?" Aberforth asked.

Sirius nodded. "Some say the Dark One let him escape."

"I've heard that rumour too."

"Do you know where he might have gone? Do you have any idea?"

Aberforth shook his head. "I don't know where he might be, not after all these years, but I can hazard a guess that he won't have gone far from the Dark One. He was obsessed with him, infatuated even. Find the Dark One and you'll find my brother."

Remus nodded solemnly. "Thank you."

Sirius waited until Aberforth had closed the door. "What did you thank him for? He didn't tell us anything useful."

"Yes, he did."

"I don't see what," James interrupted. "The Dark One knows how to stay hidden, otherwise he'd have been killed years ago."

"I've met him," Remus said quietly. "He told him he'd contact me when he needed me to repay the favour he granted in letting me live." Remus pulled back his sleeve and pressed down on the skin, revealing the faint mark on his arm.

"You're one of His minions!" James hissed, recoiling in horror. Lily didn't say anything, but her face paled considerably. Sirius on the other hand reached out and traced the mark with his finger.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No, not any more. You can't even see it unless I put pressure on the skin."

"It's still there," James pointed out. "You can hide it all you like, but it won't make it disappear. Just like you can hide the wolf, but it will always be a part of you."

Remus shrugged and pulled his sleeve back down. "I guess I need to find a way to return to the Dark One, without being summoned to his presence."

"And how do you think you're going to manage that?" Lily asked. "You can't just walk in through the front door, even if you knew where the front door was."

"I'll find the pack that your Remus runs with."

"I'm coming with you," Sirius immediately announced.

"No. It's too dangerous."

"I'll stay in my animagus form."

"No."

Sirius glared at him and folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not asking your permission. I'm telling you what I'm going to do."

Remus looked at Sirius, expecting to see the usual puppy-dog eyes that got him his own way far too often. He was mildly surprised to see instead, a quiet determination that was startlingly reminiscent of his own Sirius. He knew there would be no arguing with him or talking him out of his plan.

-o-xXx-o-

"Damn," Remus muttered. "I thought I'd found something there."

"What?" Sirius asked, looking up from his own book in hopeful anticipation.

"Nothing."

"Can I see?" Sirius pressed on. "It might be worth looking into."

"Fine, here." Remus pushed the book across the table and waited for Sirius to read the passage he was pointing to.

"This looks promising," Sirius said as he read. "A way to trace worlds that have been travelled to and from. It would narrow the search for our homes considerably."

"Read on."

"Oh."

"Yeah…oh."

"It might work though."

"Do you remember where you were when you left your home world? The exact spot?"

"I was in the Headmaster's office at Hogwart's. I don't recall the exact spot though."

"That may be good enough. But read the rest."

Sirius read on, swearing under his breath as he saw what the problem was. "Damn. A one way trip that can't be repeated."

"That's right."

"So, if I use the spell to find the way to my world, I can't use it to find Remus. If I use it to try to find him, I can never go home."

"You got it."

"Maybe the book has it wrong?"

"It seems pretty clear to me. The spell doesn't open a portal; it rips you right out of the world you are in and into the one you're aiming for. A second trip would kill you. You haven't seen the other problem though…"

"And what would that be?"

"If that office has been used to open more than one portal then you run the risk of going to a world that isn't either of the ones you are searching for, and you'd be stuck there instead."

"I could use the spell to find Remus, then find some other way to open the portal to get us home."

"What about the Sirius left behind in the prison?"

"Damn."

"You'd forgotten about him?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded. "Things are just such a mess."

"Don't worry about it," Remus said. "By thinking of yourself and not your double, you just proved that you're every bit as selfish as all the other Sirius Blacks."

Sirius turned back to the book. He wasn't selfish. He wanted to help the other Sirius who had got left behind just as much as he wanted to help all the others get back to their homes. He couldn't help it that he was worried about Remus, or that he was desperate to get back home. That didn't make him selfish…did it?

-

A/N: Don't worry, this story has not been abandoned and is on my "To Do List" to get done. I was simply stretched with too many projects on the go at once and this one was put on the back burner for a few months. LouisaB (May 2009)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: No real excuse for not updating thiis in so long. Just a case of too many projects on the go. But the updates should be more frequent now. Assuming anyone is still reading of course.

Chapter 9

"_Sirius Black's first day of work," Remus teased. "All grown up now, aren't you?"_

_They had just apparated into the alley next to the building in which Sirius would be working. It wasn't the greatest job on Earth, but it was all his. The Quidditch League Organisation wouldn't know what had hit them._

_Sirius leaned back against the wall, pulling Remus close. "Are you going to come in with me, to hold my hand?" he asked with a teasing smile of his own. _

"_You think the pretty girl on the front desk will pick on you?" Remus asked. "I don't think she looks that dangerous."_

"_Looks can be deceiving," Sirius muttered._

_Remus raised a questioning eyebrow. _

"_She pinched my arse when I came for my interview," Sirius explained. _

"_Well, I can't fault her for that," Remus replied, his own hand sneaking round Sirius's back to grope the arse in question. "It's such a fine specimen."_

"_Maybe you should come in with me and make sure she knows that you're the only one with rights to it?" Sirius suggested, leaning down to nuzzle Remus's neck._

"_You sure you want to go public?" Remus asked. "Just because most people were understanding about us at school, it doesn't mean the rest of the world will be."_

"_I don't care about the rest of the world," Sirius replied, tugging Remus out of the alley and stopping in front of the office building. _

_He glanced inside the window and saw the receptionist, Amy, sitting at her desk. He gave her a wave and signalled that he would be inside in a couple of minutes. He was a little early anyway. _

"_You ready?" he asked Remus, right before he leaned down to kiss him thoroughly._

_When he finally came up for air, he was wishing quite hard that he didn't have to go to work at all. He had even momentarily forgotten the reason for their little display, although he later confided in Remus that it had been a complete success, and Amy had kept her hands to herself the entire day. _

-o-xXx-o-

"Wrong Sirius," Sirius said as he disentangled himself from Amy, who mumbled her apologies as she flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry," Amy said. "You look the same."

"It's okay," Sirius told her with a smile. "I think you'll find your Sirius is upstairs breaking up a fight with two of our doubles."

"Again?"

Sirius nodded. They had all been cooped up in the house for over a week, and nerves were starting to fray. The only one who didn't seem overly bothered by the increase in tension was Remus, who was as irritable as ever.

Amy disappeared out of the door and Sirius turned back to the bookcase, searching for anything that looked useful.

"You should get some sleep," Remus advised when he came back into the library a few minutes later.

"I'm not tired."

"You've barely slept at all since you got here," Remus pointed out.

"What do you care?" Sirius snapped. He was well aware that his own temper was as short as any of his counterparts.

Remus ignored his question and tossed a book onto the table instead. "I think this might help solve one of our problems," he said.

Sirius turned to look at the book, and realised immediately that it was very familiar. The cover was scarlet and the lettering was golden: Gryffindor colours. It was a book he had seen before, one that James had received from his father for Christmas back in their sixth year.

"This is the book that your James found the portal spell in, isn't it?" Remus asked. Sirius had told Remus all about their previous journeys into other worlds, but he hadn't realised that the other young man had then decided to track down a copy of the book that had started it all.

Sirius picked up the book and flicked through the pages. "I think so," he replied. "I never read it all."

"Well, now would be a good time to start," Remus suggested. "Have you tried using your Patronus to contact your James again?"

"No word from him," Sirius confirmed with a frown of annoyance. "Perhaps it only works between worlds if the two people are really in love with each other or something."

"Romantic nonsense," Remus replied with a snort of contempt. "More likely your James is in some form of trouble."

"That really doesn't do a lot to ease my mind," Sirius pointed out.

"It wasn't meant to," Remus said. "You should try to contact him regularly and hopefully he'll get a message back to you and get you out of my house."

"Is it really that bad having me around?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed with annoyance. "I guess you aren't quite as annoying as the rest of them," he admitted.

"Is that a compliment I hear?" Sirius teased.

"No," Remus muttered.

"Oh, I think it was," Sirius insisted. "Come on, admit it."

Remus glared across the table, before burying himself in his book. Sirius grinned for a moment longer before turning back to his own.

-o-xXx-o-

It had taken over a week to locate the werewolf pack, and when they did it was clear that they had been watching Remus and the large black dog that accompanied him for some time. Remus was very relieved that Sirius had not turned back into his human form any time they were in public.

"Forgotten your way?" one of the werewolves asked as he stepped into Remus's path.

Remus shrugged casually, his heart beating faster as the werewolves surrounded him, blocking his escape on all sides.

"Where'd the mutt come from?"

Remus cast a quick glance at Padfoot, but Sirius gave no indication that he had heard the insult. Remus knew that his own Sirius would have been unable to stop at least a growl if he had been called a mutt, but this one was still far too dejected to bother to fight back.

"He's mine," Remus told the werewolves, growling himself in order to make it absolutely clear that anyone who messed with Padfoot was messing with him.

"The Dark One has been asking about you?" a female werewolf commented. "Seemed to think that we should be keeping an eye on you since the last full moon. Any ideas why that might be?"

"I don't presume to know the Dark One's motivations," Remus said with feigned disinterest. He wasn't surprised in the least to hear that Grindelwald had sent spies to follow him.

"You sound like you don't trust your own pack," the oldest of the werewolves suggested slyly.

Remus gave the other werewolf an appraising look. "I don't trust you," he replied. "You seem to have taken over my role as leader of the pack."

"You accept my challenge?" replied the werewolf, confirming that was his intention.

Remus shook his head. "Not now. I have urgent news for the Dark One. It can't wait for even as long as it would take for me to show you your place."

The werewolf looked like he was about to argue, but Remus held his gaze until he backed down.

"This way," the female who had spoken before said, and Remus followed her deeper into the forest, Padfoot at his heels.

As a wolf, Remus had a marvellous sense of direction, but as a human it was much less so. As such he was very unsure as to exactly where he was when they finally arrived at an apparently derelict building. He soon realised his mistake, and as they drew nearer the spells hiding the true nature of the building disappeared, and allowed Remus to see the building as it truly was: a magnificent palace.

He was brought before the Dark One immediately and waited for the older wizard to speak first.

"You've been asking about Dumbledore," Grindelwald commented after the room had been cleared of everyone except the two of them, and Padfoot of course.

"I have."

"Why?"

"I knew his double on my world," Remus replied. "I wished to speak to him about the magic that brought me here."

"You think he has the knowledge of how to send you home?"

"Possibly."

"He doesn't."

"You don't know that for sure."

Grindelwald smiled slowly. "Actually, I do."

Remus raised an eyebrow and waited.

"I've known Albus since we were youths, and I can assure you that he has no knowledge of how to open portals to other worlds."

"You can't be sure," Remus repeated.

"He's my prisoner and the only reading material he has is what I allow him. I would not be foolish enough to provide him with the means to escape his captivity, and if he already knew how to do so, he would have gone long before now."

Remus frowned, realising that the dark wizard before him had a point. "So, Dumbledore didn't escape from the prison you put him in?"

Grindelwald snorted at the very idea. "Of course not."

"Some people say you let him go."

"Foolish people believe many things."

Remus wondered if he was one of those foolish people, but managed to stop himself for actually asking the question.

"You wish to speak with Albus?" Grindelwald asked conversationally.

"Can I?"

Grindelwald shrugged. "If you wish. He probably won't be much use to you, but it will save you from wasting your time and mine by trying to break into my home here to see him."

"Why are you helping me?" Remus asked. "First you let me leave here unharmed, and now you're letting me see Dumbledore. Why?"

"Because when you've spoken to Albus, I'll be calling in my favour. The more you owe me, the more likely it is that you'll co-operate without argument."

Remus wondered whether it was too late to leave, but quickly realised that it was.

-o-xXx-o-

"This is the spell we used," Sirius said when he had finally located it in the book.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked.

"Definitely. Though I'm sure you've realised what the problem is…"

"Not really," Remus replied. "From my point of view it's ideal. You and your Remus communicate through the Patronus charm, cast the spell, open the portal and I have one less Sirius Black to put up with."

The words were hard, but Sirius didn't fail to pick up on the small, involuntary smile that accompanied them.

"I was thinking of Remus joining me here," Sirius said with a grin. "You've got more than enough room."

"I suppose having another Remus would at least be an improvement on another Sirius," Remus muttered as he turned back to his own book.

Sirius grinned. "I think you like having us here," he said with a wink. "Go on, admit it."

"I will not. You're all costing me a fortune in food."

"Looks to me like you can afford it," Sirius commented. "Anyway, back to the spell – I'd rather have him here with me than go to the world he's in."

"What difference does it make?" Remus asked. "You can shag him wherever you are."

Sirius shook his head in bewilderment. "You think that's the only reason I want him back?"

"Isn't it?"

"No, it isn't," Sirius snapped. "He's in a world where he's at the beck and call of a dark wizard. I want him out of that place as soon as possible."

"Why? Don't you trust him?"

"I trust him a hell of a lot more than I trust you," Sirius replied. "More than I trust anyone."

"Then why aren't you sending your Patronus to tell him of your plan?"

"Because he's going undercover to try to contact Dumbledore. I have to wait for him to contact me."

"Sirius Black being patient, there's a first."

-o-xXx-o-

Albus Dumbledore's prison was much as his office had been at Hogwarts. Cluttered with interesting items and home to Fawkes as well as Dumbledore. But unlike at Hogwarts, the elderly wizard could not come and go as he pleased, and his home was very much a prison.

When Remus arrived in the room, he saw that Dumbledore was feeding Fawkes, and for a moment it was almost as though he had been summoned to the headmaster's office.

He coughed to get the older man's attention, and Dumbledore turned to face him.

"A visitor, how nice," he commented, waving Remus to one of the chairs near a fireplace that was far too small to be connected to the floo network. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, though I suspect you know that. And who do I have the pleasure of entertaining today?"

Remus sat down as he introduced himself. "My name's Remus Lupin, and although I'm told I'm wasting my time, I've come to ask for your help."

Dumbledore nodded. "Remus Lupin, the leader of Gellert's werewolves?"

"Not exactly," Remus replied, before explaining who he was and how he came to be there.

Dumbledore listened quietly as told his story. "Headmaster of Hogwarts?" he commented with a chuckle after Remus had finished.

"Yes," Remus replied. "If it weren't for you, I'd never have been able to attend the school."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sorry that I cannot return your favour and tell you how to return home. I could not even reply to your message."

"You received my Patronus?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but I've never heard of them being used to send messages to other people. I could not have replied, even if I were permitted to have a wand. I see Gellert is confident enough to let you retain your wand, but he is not so confident to permit me to keep mine."

"And you've never come across any sort of magic that enables a person to travel between worlds?"

"I'm afraid not."

"He said you wouldn't be able to help me," Remus said. "If you did know a way, you'd have used it to escape."

"Would I?" Dumbledore asked cryptically.

"You wouldn't?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "These walls and the spells on this building are not what makes this my prison. No, Remus, my prison is of my own making. I am the only thing standing between Gellert and his total destruction of the world as we know it. As long as he lives, I cannot leave this place for fear of what he would do in my absence."

"Oh." Remus didn't know quite what to say to that.

Dumbledore shrugged. "It is my life, such as it is. Now, was there anything else?"

Remus shook his head. "I guess I'd better return to him and find out what favour he wants of me."

"He probably wants you to turn someone," Dumbledore told him calmly. "That honour usually goes to the Remus of our world, but since he is absent, Gellert probably wishes you to take his place."

Remus felt as though the world had suddenly tilted on its axis. "I can't…"

"You may not have a choice," Dumbledore pointed out. "And whoever is being turned may wish to join the army of wolves. From what Gellert tells me, the ranks swell by dozens each full moon."

"I'd never inflict this curse on anyone," Remus insisted, his voice rising as he rose to his feet.

"If you were imprisoned in a cell with a human on the night of the full moon – tonight in fact – do you really think you could stop yourself?"

Remus groaned as he looked out of the small window. The sun was already completing its arc for the day; he guessed there was maybe an hour until sunset.

Remus began to pace the room. "I have to get out of here."

"He won't let you walk out of here," Dumbledore warned.

"Just before I left to find my way here, I spoke with my Sirius via our Patronuses. He said there was a spell that could literally tear you out of one world and into another…" Remus's voice trailed off as he pulled out his wand and sent a Patronus to Sirius. He was relieved that it had not been taken from him when he had arrived, though he knew that as outnumbered as he was, there was little he could do with it to escape.

Sirius's reply came back a few minutes later.

"_Remus, that spell won't work unless you're in the exact spot where a portal has already been opened. It's used to trace them, not to open them. But I've got good news. The Remus in this world found the book that James got for Christmas and we've got the spell we used to open portals originally. I just need to get to where you are and we can open the portal and you can join me here."_

"_Dumbledore says this building is in the Hidden Forest of Worcestershire."_

"_An address would be helpful."_

"_Yes, it would. But that's all I have."_

"Terrific. What's the nearest town I'm likely to have been to?"

Remus turned to Dumbledore who produced a map book from one of the shelves.

"It's an old edition," he apologised as he opened the book. "I'm afraid I'm not the original owner either, and it doesn't always co-operate."

Remus looked at the book and saw immediately what Dumbledore meant. The images on the page were moving all over the place. The Welsh dragon had apparently left the page for Wales and was breathing fire at Big Ben, the clock face of which was pulling faces at the dragon.

Various trees, symbolising forests had also moved about, congregating in various areas of the map where they obscured the view of everything behind them.

It took some time, but eventually they established which town was nearest to their location and Remus sent a message to Sirius to let him know.

"_I'll apparate there and you can direct me the rest of the way," _Sirius replied through the Patronus.

"Don't you think that's a bit vague?" Remus asked as Sirius picked up the book from James and shoved it into the pocket of his cloak along with his borrowed wand.

"I've an amazing sense of direction in my animagus form," Sirius declared. "I'll find him."

Remus looked doubtful, though he at least had the sense to keep his mouth shut. Sirius knew that his Remus was counting on him, and that more than anything made him determined to succeed.

Thirty minutes later, Sirius was bounding through the trees of the Hidden Forest, alert for anything that might be the house he was searching for. He hoped it wasn't a Dark Lord's hideout in this world, because if it was, he would have a whole new set of problems and no time to figure out a solution.

He was heading north-west – the direction Remus had advised him to go – when he caught the scent of humans somewhere ahead of him.

They were having a barbecue. Sirius could smell the sausages and burgers well before the building came into view.

It didn't look like a palace. It didn't even look like a mansion. It looked very much like a regular muggle family home. It was clearly on the expensive end of the market, but it was nothing like Remus had described.

Unfortunately, it also seemed to be in the right location and he was running out of time until Remus was transforming under the full moon.

He raced towards the building and up the steps. The front door was unlocked and Sirius crept inside, listening out for anyone nearby.

Remus had told him that Dumbledore had guessed that he was likely to be taken to the cells, which were located underground and towards the rear of the palace. Sirius hoped this house had a basement.

Thankfully he found that there was a basement and it was unlocked.

He turned back into his human form and sent his Patronus to Remus. This was going to be tricky.

Remus turned to Dumbledore after he had listened to Sirius's latest update. "He's made better time than I thought he would," he said. "What floor are we on? Perhaps he can find this room in the house he's in?"

"We're on the fourth floor, west wing," Dumbledore replied, and Remus sent that information to Sirius.

"_Only one problem with that,"_ Sirius replied. _"This building only has two floors and maybe an attic."_

"Can you get to the roof?"

"_The roof?"_ Remus could practically hear the squeak in Sirius's voice.

"_I'm still with Dumbledore. The guards will be fetching me before sunset. I think they're leaving it until the last minute, so I won't have time to find a way out of here before the full moon rises."_

"_But the roof?"_

"_Can you apparate up there?" _

"_Damn it, Remus. If I didn't love you so much…"_

Dumbledore chuckled and looked at Remus. "Do you think he'll be able to find the exact spot you're in?"

Remus frowned. He certainly hoped so.

"Gellert merely extended on the original building, which was much smaller," Dumbledore explained. "This chimney was part of the original building. If Sirius can locate it then there's a chance you can make sure you're in the exact right place."

Remus nodded and sent the message to Sirius, who was now teetering on the edge of the roof and trying not to look down.

"_Can we hurry this up?"_ Sirius replied.

"_For Merlin's sake, Padfoot. You were on the bloody Quidditch team!"_

"_Quidditch players have brooms!"_

"_Are you at the chimney yet?"_

"_There's more than one; which is it?"_

"_I don't know. We'll have to try them all one by one."_

"_Do you remember the spell?"_

"_Remind me again."_

Sirius pulled out the book and flicked to the page with the portal spell on it. He read through the instructions and sent his Patronus to Remus, repeating them for him. He really hoped this worked.

It wasn't the first chimney, but it was the second, and Sirius practically whooped as he saw the portal appearing in front of him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he called through to Remus, forgetting that he couldn't hear him. Thankfully, his frantic gesturing was clear and Remus launched himself through the portal, throwing himself at Sirius.

"You believe in cutting it fine, don't you?" Remus teased. "I could practically hear the guards on the stairs."

"Let's just hope they don't follow you through here," Sirius said as he hugged Remus close. "I see you've bought my double through."

Remus turned to where Padfoot was sitting behind him, studiously staring at the portal. "I couldn't leave him there, but we're going to have to find a way to get him home again."

Sirius grinned. "Well, what's one more Sirius to get back home. I'm sure your double will be delighted to have him."

"I'm detecting some sarcasm there."

Sirius nodded. "Come here. Let me apparate us all back to your double's house before those guards join us."

"But what about the people in this house? We can't put them in danger."

Sirius sighed. "I just want you out of danger."

"The biggest danger was the full moon, and thankfully there doesn't appear to be one due here for at least a week."

Sirius pulled out his wand and pointed it at the portal. Remus did likewise, and Padfoot turned back into his human form to join them.

They watched as Dumbledore moved out of sight. Shadows appeared on the floor of the room. The guards had arrived.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the long delay on this one. And also for those I have not replied to who have reviewed this story recently. I can only plead that I need more hours in the day. The story will be finished... eventually. And I will reply to everyone who has reviewed. I do appreciate all your comments and hope you will continue to be patient with me.

Chapter 10

_"Do you ever wonder what you'd be doing if you hadn't been bitten?"_

_Remus turned to look at Sirius and smiled softly. "No."_

"_But your life could be so different."_

"_It could, but who says I want it to be?"_

"_I guess, but don't you ever wonder?"_

"_There's only one thing I wonder about," Remus admitted quietly. "I wonder what my animagus form would have been if I had been able to turn into one."_

"_Why can't you?"_

"_Only humans have an animagus form," Remus explained. "That is, those who are completely human. Werewolves are no longer entirely human. The wolf takes over the part of the body that the animagus transformation needs. That's why the merfolk and the centaurs can't turn into complete animals. The wolf is as much a part of me as the fish and horse is a part of those. But I'm curious to know what I might have been."_

"_A dog," Sirius stated firmly. "Just like me."_

_Remus chuckled. Let Sirius believe that if he wanted to, if it made him happy._

-o-xXx-o-

The three of them faced the portal together. It would take all of them to keep the guards at bay until the portal closed.

Remus was still contemplating whether spells would make it through the portal at all when Sirius's double pointed his wand at the portal and conjured a shield right across the whole thing.

"Will that hold?" Sirius asked.

"Only one way to find out," his double replied without taking his eyes off the portal.

Remus watched as one of the guards tried to follow them through the portal and immediately fell backwards into the room as he hit the invisible barrier.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing his own wand at the portal and doubling the strength of the shield with one of his own.

The guards soon tired of trying to get through the portal and instead decided on a different tactic, turning their wands towards Albus Dumbledore. The leader of the guards looked at them with a smirk, silently daring them to come back through the portal to them, or let their prisoner take the consequences.

Dumbledore stepped into view and calmly smiled at them through the portal, waving his hand as though he were merely bidding them farewell.

"They won't hurt him," Remus said. "If they do, Grindelwald will kill them."

"But they could hurt him," Sirius replied taking a step closer.

Dumbledore saw his move and shook his head.

The guard didn't waste any more time before he brought Dumbledore to his knees with a well-aimed curse.

All three young men on the other side of the portal cringed and moved forward again. Their help was not needed though, because although they could not hear Dumbledore's cries, Gellert Grindelwald could, and he appeared in the room moments later.

He turned his wand on the guards, killing two of them swiftly and sending the rest of them running.

They watched through the portal as Grindelwald helped Dumbledore to his feet and guided him towards his chair.

Once Dumbledore was seated he turned to the portal and looked with mild annoyance at them. Then he gave a small salute at being out manoeuvred a turned away.

"Can he call you in this world?" Sirius's double asked quietly, gesturing to his arm.

"I don't know," Remus replied. "I hope not, but I don't know for sure."

"I guess we'll find out if he ever tries to summon you."

"We?" Sirius asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Remus sighed and watched with relief as the portal slowly closed once more. "I hope Dumbledore's going to be okay," he said.

"I'm sure he will," Sirius replied. "I don't think that Grindelwald will let anything happen to him, not if the look in his eyes just now is anything to go by."

"Now what?" Remus asked. "Do you have any ideas on how to get us home yet?"

Sirius shook his head. "Let's just head back to your double's house and see if they've made any progress with their research."

"And there are how many Sirius Blacks there?" Remus asked with a grin.

"Far too many," Sirius muttered, casting a quick glance over the additional one that was about to join them. "Just remember, that your Sirius is the one with his hand on your arse."

Remus chuckled and wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist. "You okay with apparating all three of us?"

Sirius nodded and waited for his double to step closer and once they were ready he took them all back to the entrance to the Lupin residence.

"Sweet Merlin!" Sirius's double exclaimed when he saw the house.

"Quite a place, isn't it?" Sirius said with a grin. "A small part of me wants to ship the Remus of his world back to our old flat and stay here with Moony."

Remus knew that Sirius's double had caught the 'our' in the sentence as well as he had. Sirius was staking his territory in no uncertain terms.

"Come on, I'll introduce you," Sirius said as they walked through the gates and down the path towards the entrance.

Remus walked alongside him, and Sirius's double turned into Padfoot and took up his position on his other side. Remus looked at the lavish building and was in the middle of counting all the windows when one of said windows smashed and the sounds of yelling came from one of the rooms on the second floor.

Sirius took it all in his stride and continued down the path. They were just reaching the front steps when the door swung open, revealing the owner of the house, who was looking at the end of his tether.

"Hi, Remus," Sirius called. "Come say hello to my Moony."

Remus glared down the steps at them, his gaze settling on Padfoot. "Bloody Merlin, not another one."

Padfoot cringed slightly at the far from friendly greeting and Remus narrowed his eyes as he looked at his double.

"He's always like this," Sirius explained. "He's not exactly the most hospitable of hosts."

"Be thankful I'm not making you all sleep outside," Remus snapped. "And if you want that mutt to stay, you'd better go make up one of the empty rooms."

"Come on," Sirius said as he pushed past Remus's double and into the house. "Just ignore him."

Remus turned to his double. "You go ahead Sirius, I'll catch you and Padfoot up in a minute."

Sirius nodded hesitantly, but disappeared inside the house with the large black dog at his heels.

"So, you're a werewolf?" Remus's double asked him, his voice merely curious.

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?"

His double shook his head. "You wanted to say something to me?" he asked. "Something you don't want your sweetie to hear? Something you're keeping from him perhaps?"

Remus smiled. "You're one suspicious bloke, aren't you?" he commented with a chuckle. "No, I didn't want to confess my sins to you, if that's what you're asking. I wanted to warn you to lay off Padfoot."

"Which one?" his double muttered.

"The one that's just arrived with me," Remus replied. "The rest of them can take care of themselves, but if I see you so much as look at that one in any way that isn't at the very least courteously polite, then you'll have me to answer to."

"You're championing your new friend, but not your own Sirius?" his double asked with a smirk.

"My Sirius can defend himself if he has to. This is just a friendly warning."

His double shrugged and waved him into the house.

"Oh, and one more thing," Remus said before he turned to join Sirius and Padfoot at the top of the stairs. "Don't call Sirius my sweetie if you want to keep your balls intact."

"Isn't he?"

Remus shook his head with a smile. "He's many things, but he's no more fond of stupid names like that than I imagine either of us are."

Remus didn't wait to hear a reply. He turned and hurried up the stairs, to where Sirius was waiting for him.

"All sorted?" Sirius asked as a wrapped an arm around Remus's waist.

Remus nodded. "I think so."

-o-xXx-o-

Remus stood on the balcony, looking down at the cigarette ends littered around his feet.

Sirius felt a guilty flush spreading over his face when he saw where Remus's gaze was focused.

"I can explain," he whispered as he approached Remus.

"There's no need," Remus replied. "You've not been sleeping, have you?"

Sirius shook his head. "So, you don't mind that I resorted to lighting up?"

"Don't be daft." Remus turned and wrapped his arms around Sirius, holding him close as he summoned the courage to make his own, much worse, confession.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, sensing Remus's hesitation and worry.

"I have something to tell you," Remus admitted. "Something you aren't going to like."

"Oh?"

Remus stepped away from Sirius and turned to look out over the garden.

"Is this about him?" Sirius asked, nodding back inside the room, even though Remus could not see his gesture. Remus knew who Sirius was referring to though, and he nodded slowly.

"Did something happen?" Sirius asked quietly, stepping forward so that he was standing alongside Remus, and looking at him from the corner of his eye.

Remus nodded again.

"Oh…"

"Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be," Remus said. "And I didn't think it was going to be easy in the first place."

"Did you sleep with him?" Sirius whispered.

"No," Remus replied immediately, and he turned to face Sirius as he spoke, needing to know what was going through Sirius's mind, but unable to read anything from his expression.

"But something happened?" Sirius prompted.

"I kissed him," Remus admitted.

"Oh."

They stood quietly for several minutes until finally Sirius spoke again. "Was he a good kisser?"

Remus turned to him with a frown of confusion. "Is that all you've got to say?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't want to fight with you tonight."

"But I kissed him!"

Sirius stepped closer to Remus and turned him round to face him straight on. "And I'm going to spend tonight wiping that kiss from your memory with some of my own. Even if it takes all night."

"But aren't you angry?"

"I should be, but getting trapped in a different world kind of puts things in perspective for me. I've got you back with me, and that's all that I care about."

"I don't deserve you," Remus whispered.

"Of course you do," Sirius replied with a snort of laughter. "Now, come here and let me kiss you."

Remus gave a half-hearted chuckle, but did as Sirius asked. He wondered briefly if Sirius was even bothered by the fact that he had just confessed to kissing another bloke, but then he felt the possessiveness in the kiss, and knew that despite his words, he was. Sirius wanted to make sure that Remus knew who he belonged to, and his kiss was making that more than clear.

Remus could feel the railings digging into his back as Sirius pushed him up against them. "The wall," Remus gasped between kisses, not entirely secure in the stability of the railings of the balcony.

Sirius answered his plea by twisting them around and pushing Remus back up against the wall of the house instead.

Remus felt Sirius slip one leg between his own and he groaned loudly. He dimly heard the sound of a door closing inside the house, and he realised that Sirius's double had heard them and was making himself scarce. He knew he should feel guilty about hurting him, but his own Sirius, back in his arms at last, was doing a marvellous job of making him forget everything except him.

-o-xXx-o-

Despite Sirius's threat to keep him up all night, the two young men fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, both too exhausted to keep their eyes open a moment longer.

When Remus woke up the following day he wasn't surprised to find that it was well after noon.

He turned over to check the clock for the exact time and groaned as the movement reminded him of the events of the previous night. He ached all over and knew that he would for some time to come.

"Afternoon," Sirius greeted him.

Remus searched for the owner of the voice and saw him looking in at him from outside on the balcony. "Hi," he replied groggily. "How long have you been up for?"

"Not long," Sirius replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been well and truly shagged," Remus muttered as he gingerly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Sirius chuckled momentarily before his face turned serious once more. "Did I really hurt you?" he asked as he hurried inside.

Remus shook his head. "No. I'm just a bit sore."

"Sorry," Sirius offered, though he didn't look as though he really meant it. There was a certain amount of smugness in his face that Remus found mildly amusing.

Remus stood up and walked gingerly out onto the balcony. "Did you get any sleep?" he asked quietly as Sirius pulled him onto his lap.

"More than any other night since we were last together," Sirius replied.

Remus frowned as he realised that the shadows under his eyes were still lingering. "Let's go back to bed," he suggested. He reached up to push Sirius's hair from out of his eyes as he spoke, but Sirius shook his head, causing the loose strands to fall back into his face.

"We should be trying to find a way to get us all home," he pointed out quietly. "We can't stay here forever."

Remus nodded in agreement. "How about we find something to eat and then start working on it?"

Sirius's stomach growled loudly in response. "First things first," he said, patting Remus on the backside. "Clothes. Don't want anyone getting any ideas."

Remus looked at his torn clothes and grimaced. "You think my double would loan me some?"

Sirius laughed. "He won't have any choice," he said as he eased Remus off of his lap and stood up. "Wait here."

Remus had gathered up all their belongings, made the bed and cleared away numerous plates and dishes with half-eaten meals still on them, by the time that Sirius returned.

Once they were both suitably dressed, they went downstairs in search of breakfast and a way home.

Remus came to a halt as soon as he walked into the kitchen. The sight of three Sirius Blacks arguing over the last of the donuts was something he had never thought he would see.

His own Sirius took in the situation with a sweep of his eyes and he strolled over to the counter, grabbed the donut and returned to Remus before the others had even noticed it was gone. "Here you go," he said as he put the treat into Remus's hand.

"This isn't exactly a healthy meal," Remus pointed out with a grin.

Sirius grinned back. "If you don't want it, there are four of us here in the room who'll be happy to take it off your hands."

Remus smirked. "I didn't say that," he replied, and he took a large bite of the jam-filled dessert.

He sat down at the table as Sirius began to rummage through the cupboards for his own lunch. Both of them ignored the others, who were now glaring at him with undisguised annoyance.

Sirius returned to the table and sat down next to him. "You missed a bit," he said as he reached out and wiped a bit of jam from the edge of Remus's mouth with his finger.

Remus licked at his lips and gave him a seductive smile.

"You're not going to start shagging on the table or anything, are you?" one of the other Sirius's asked, screwing up his nose in distaste.

Sirius waggled his eyebrows at Remus. "What do you think?" he asked. "Up for round two?"

Remus grinned. "Oh behave," he replied. "We've got research to do." He gave a gesture that included the others and wasn't surprised to see looks of boredom and horror in their faces.

"Well," he commented when he realised that no one was exactly jumping up and down with enthusiasm. "I can see where the problem is."

"Problem?" asked the Sirius who was adding his empty bowl to the pile in the sink, but clearly not bothering to wash it.

Remus nodded firmly. "You need someone to get you all to get your backsides into gear and actually do some work. With this many Sirius Blacks on the job, you should have had it figured out ages ago, instead you've been doing what? Loafing about the place? Arguing? Making a mess?" He pointed towards the sink. "You can start by cleaning up the pots."

His own Sirius grinned widely at him. "I love it when you get all dominant," he teased.

Remus tried to glare at him, but the smile on his lips kept forcing its way to the surface. "Come on, we've got work to do."

-o-xXx-o-

Remus rounded up the rest of the Sirius Blacks – all except the one he had brought with him, who had not reappeared since his disappearance from the room the previous night – and set them to work in the library.

Then he went in search of the final Sirius, hoping that he hadn't hurt him too much.

"Moony?" Sirius asked quietly as he followed Remus out of the mansion and onto the lawns.

Remus turned to face him.

"I'll get back to the research in a minute," Sirius assured him. "Just… I…"

Remus nodded in understanding. "Why don't you take a seat out here?" he suggested, pointing to a nearby stone bench. "You can read out here and still keep an eye on me; I'm not going far." He pointed to where Padfoot was sniffing around the flowerbeds.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Sirius hurriedly explained. "I just don't think I can bear to let you out of my sight just yet."

"I know," Remus replied. "I feel the same way about you."

"You do?"

Remus nodded again. "I'll just be over there. I have to check he's okay."

Sirius sat on the bench and opened the book he had brought from the library. Remus smiled and walked over to the large black dog. Padfoot gave a small bark of acknowledgement at his greeting, but he didn't turn back into his human form.

"You aren't going to talk to me?" Remus asked as he sat down on the grass. He reached out to ruffle Padfoot's fur, but drew back immediately when the animagus pulled away from him. Remus sighed. "It's not like you didn't know I was with him," he pointed out impatiently.

The animagus looked at him and turned back into the dark-haired young man that was the mirror image of the one sitting on the stone bench behind him.

"It's okay," Sirius said quietly. "I'm okay with your decision. It's just…"

"You thought I'd pick you," Remus concluded sadly.

Sirius shook his head. "No. I knew you'd choose him. I just wish I'd had you to myself for a bit longer. Maybe then I could have changed your mind. I can see why you chose him though."

"You can?"

"He's confidant and smart. He's everything I'm not."

"That's not true," Remus told him. "He has insecurities just like the rest of us. And I think that the Black confidence is in you as well. It's just been buried a bit. You two aren't as different as you seem to think."

Sirius shrugged. "So it's just bad luck that he met you first?"

"Well, it probably helps that we grew up in the same dimension."

"While I grew up in a world where Remus Lupin hates me…"

"Your Remus is an idiot," Remus told him.

Sirius gave a small smile.

"You know what you need?"

Remus turned to see that his own Sirius had come up behind him. He gracefully flopped down onto the grass and grinned widely.

"Some privacy?" the other Sirius suggested.

"Not with my Remus," Sirius replied, only half teasing. "What you need is to find a world where it's the reverse of your own."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in your world you fancy Remus and he doesn't like you back, right?"

"Yes."

"So, what we need to do is find you a world where there's a Remus who fancies a Sirius and has no chance with him."

"What we need is to find a way to get him home," Remus argued.

"They're not expecting me back," Sirius argued. "I left a note for James and Lily telling them that I was going to go with you… that I was going to stay with you."

Remus frowned. "We still need to get you home. They'll be worried about you."

"I'm not a child," Sirius argued. "I'll go where I please!"

Remus grinned. "Now that's more like the Sirius that I know."

"Hey!" the Sirius that he knew exclaimed, punching him lightly on the arm. "Anyway, you've not heard the best part of my plan."

Remus raised an eyebrow and Sirius grinned widely. "And?" he prompted.

"And, the best part is that we're already here," Sirius declared.

"What do you mean?" the other Sirius asked cautiously.

Sirius smirked. "I mean that we're in a world where there is a Remus Lupin who – unless I am very much mistaken, and we all know I never am – desperately wants to shag his straight best friend, Sirius Black."

Remus shook his head rapidly. "No! Don't even think about it."

"Too late," Sirius replied with a grin. "He's gagging for it. He'd probably jump in bed with me if I offered."

"He would?" Remus interrupted, annoyed at himself for the stab of jealousy he felt at the idea.

Sirius nodded. "It's perfect."

"I don't know," Remus said. "He doesn't act like he wants to get involved with anyone. Seems like a bit of a loner to me."

"And you weren't back in first year?" Sirius pointed out. "The quiet little boy with the dark secret. I'm telling you that the Remus of this world is in love with Sirius, and the only one who doesn't realise it is Sirius himself. That's his secret and it's eating at him, making him irritable and bad-tempered, just like you were when we were close to figuring out your secret."

"But just because he fancies the Sirius in this world, it doesn't mean he'll settle for any other Sirius that throws himself at him."

"I wasn't planning on throwing myself at anyone," the other Sirius interrupted. "I've taken a chance on two Remuses now, and look where it's got me!"

Remus sighed as he watched Sirius turn back into Padfoot and take off across the lawn towards the nearby woods.

"You want me to go after him?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head and stood up. He was about to go after him himself when he saw a movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to see an adult fox looking at him from a spot in the shade of the nearby hedge.

Sirius followed his gaze and chuckled when he saw who was eavesdropping. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he called, nodding towards the woods.

Remus watched as the fox took Sirius's advice and darted towards the woods.

"I knew it!" Sirius declared, tugging Remus back down to the grass.

"Care to explain?"

"The Sirius of this world is a werewolf," Sirius said with a grin. "And the Remus of this world is an animagus… a fox animagus."

"And you're sure that that was him, and not just a regular fox coming by in the hope of getting a free meal?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh, that was Remus all right. No other fox has ever looked at me with quite so much disapproval before."

"He'd better not be giving him a hard time," Remus muttered as he looked towards the woods.

Sirius gave him an entirely inappropriately lewd look.

"You know what I mean," Remus scolded.

Sirius grinned and leaned back on his elbows. "Going to give me a hard time?" he asked.

Remus rolled his eyes, but that didn't stop him from leaning in kiss Sirius long and – most definitely – hard.

"I'm going to get us home," he promised when they finally walked back towards the mansion. "I promise."

"This place isn't so bad," Sirius replied. "Not now you're here with me."

"Thought you were done with all the riches and stuff when you ran away from home?" Remus teased. "Starting to miss it?"

Sirius snorted. "Hardly. The Blacks might have had money, but I never saw much of it. But you've got to admit: this place is nice. Who wouldn't want to stick around a while?"

Remus smiled as he looked at the home that – had things been different – could have been his. "Come on," he said as he opened the door to the library. "Let's figure out a way to get us all out of this mess."

Inside the library it was immediately clear that they were going to have their work cut out for them. There was only one Sirius left in the room, and he was snoring loudly.

"Guess it's down to us," Remus declared as he reached for a huge book and dropped it onto the table with a loud bang. A cloud of dust flew up from the book, which clearly hadn't been opened in years, and the sleeping Sirius shot up in his seat as though he'd been hexed.

"Back to work," Remus stated as he glared at the slacker.

"My Remus isn't nearly so bossy," he complained as he stretched and yawned.

"Your Remus isn't going to get you home either," Sirius pointed out. "But my Remus will. So, get back to it and start helping."

"You, too," Remus said to Sirius. "Go and round up the others and get them in here."

"Yes, Sir," Sirius teased.

Remus smiled as he set about organising a group of very reluctant Sirius Blacks. They were going to have their work cut out for them, but he was sure that if they all worked together they would find their way home.


End file.
